{Duck} Shepherd’s Pie
As many of you know, we raised meat ducks last year. We weren’t really planning to do so, but it ended up that way and when all was said and done we had about 40 ducks in the freezer. Needless to say…I had to learn how cook duck. Which has been an interesting undertaking since I have also been learning how to cook goat. Thankfully, both tasks are going well 🙂 Since we haven’t had any ground meat for quite some time though, I have been trying to find alternatives to use in our favorite recipes. This recipe for Duck Shepherd’s Pie popped up in my search one day and I had to try it. Especially since it came from Jamie Oliver’s website. Have you ever tried one of his recipes? Do you know who I’m talking about? He is a chef who has had several popular shows – my particular favorite was the one where he went into schools and tried to change the lunches to be healthy. Anyway, this recipe of his sounded a tad odd to me when I first looked at it, but since I have made a few of his recipes in the past and they have been amazing, I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and make it. I did end up changing a few things along the way – that’s just how I roll – so the flavors are likely a tad different from what his was, but I have made this a couple times now and we have loved it both times. Depending on where you live, it might a bit early yet to get ahold of rhubarb. I happened to have some in my freezer from my friend’s garden last year and I have seen it on occasion in the freezer section at different grocery stores, so see what you can come up with. I have discovered duck is very easy to roast in the oven a day or two or three before you want to use it in something. Then when it’s cool you can simply tear all the meat off, chop it and use it in place of ground meat. So we have been having duck tacos (which we lovingly refer to as ‘D-acos’) and chili, this, duck really seems to be a great alternative for ground beef.
FOR THE DUCK1 whole duck- 1 orange, halved
- a few sprigs fresh rosemary
- a few sprigs fresh sage
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE PIE2 pounds red potatoes, chopped - duck fat (which you will have from roasting the duck)
- 1 red onion, peeled and thickly sliced
- 3 sticks celery, diced
- 6 carrots, peeled and cut into big chunks
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 sticks rhubarb, minced
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup beer
- 2 cups beef stock (I have lots of duck stock so I use that but beef should be fine unless you are really on top of it and get the duck meat torn off the carcass early enough to make stock - if so you are awesome)
- 4 tablespoons butter
- warm milk
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- So early in the day, or the day before, get your duck roasted. To do this preheat your oven to 350˚.
- Get out a roasting pan and place your duck on it. Rub the cavity with salt and pepper and then stuff the orange and herbs into it.
- Place it into the oven, breast side down for 1 hour.
- After the hour, flip the duck over so it is breast side up and roast for another hour.
- Once done, pull the duck out and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Do not throw out the delicious duck fat in the bottom of your roasting pan. That stuff is gold - seriously it's super expensive to buy and very tasty to cook with so just pour into a jar and save it for frying potatoes or veggies or something. Seriously. Yes, I'm old school that way. Use the ENTIRE duck!
- Ok so once the duck is cool enough to handle, tear all the meat off the carcass. Set the carcass aside for making stock - duck stock is delicious - chop the meat into bits and set aside.
- Place the chopped potatoes in a pot of salted boiling water to soften while you make the filling.
- Heat your oven to 350˚ again.
- I have a large dutch oven I like to use for these ventures but if you don't, just use a fry pan for this part. So heat your pan over medium heat with about 2 tablespoons of the duck fat.
- Once hot, add the onion, celery and garlic, cook and stir until soft.
- Then add the rhubarb, duck meat and flour. Stir until everything is coated in the flour.
- Pour in the beer and stock, add some salt and pepper to taste. Stir until you have a thick bubbly gravy. Remove from heat and set aside while you make the potatoes.
- If you have one of those hand potato masher things, that works great here. If not you can use a stand mixer. The key to a great shepherd's pie though is nice thick, heavy potatoes, if they are too runny they'll just mix into the gravy. So I usually save myself washing another bowl and use the hand masher. If you have one, pour off the water from the pot, add the butter and about ¼ cup warm milk and mash away. If they seem crazy thick you can add a bit more milk.
- Plop the potatoes on top of the gravy and smooth out so you have a nice even layer and place the whole thing in the oven for about 30 minutes.
- Huckleberry Plum Pie - January 1, 2017
- Fresh Mango Sorbet - July 17, 2016
- Steak Caesar Salad - June 8, 2016
