Bill to Tail Cooking

So after butchering chickens for Easter, I realized how much cheaper and easier it is to buy whole carcasses and then process them yourself (that way you get everything - bones, fat, light meat, dark meat, etc).  I had one duck left from my trip out to the Asian supermarkets (of the original 3). I decided to use everything.

You can follow along in my "Bill to Tail" Flickr set.

****AMPLE WARNING-  NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH****

I start out with a great quality muscovy duck purchased from a local Vietnamese market and process it into two perfect breasts, 2 legs, and a remaining carcass that I roast in the oven and use for stock (or rather roasted duck jus).

I practiced prior on 2 other ducks and decided to make a duck ragu with the 4 other legs. I cooked the sauce low and slow for 4 hours with the intent to sous vide it another 12 - 14 so the thighs are insanely tender and there is no large deposits of fat. The duck thighs were joined by some louisana style sausage from a local butcher shop (Morant's is amazing), pinot grigio, san manzano tomatoes, and duck stock, sun-dried tomatoes (rehydrated in stock) and blended with garlic. Once the pot was bubbling- I stuck it in the oven at 225 for 4 hrs. You can see how tender the meat is. Look at those clean bones- no tools needed. I use the bones in the stock with the roasted carcass, the heart, and the head and  neck.

Finally - as I was butchering I was cutting off huge quantities of fat and fatty skin, I used a water rendering method of basically boiling them until all of the fat had rendered. I then strained it. Once in the fridge the fat will rise to the surface and thicken up to the consistency of warm butter. I'll just add it to my duck fat container (the small plastic one that looks like it is filled with Tahini in the photo set). The small amount of stock underneath will be added to the larger batch and then frozen.

Here you can see those "Italian Style Confit" Duck Thighs cooled in their own juices/fat in a vacuum seamed bag. Insanely delicious...