15 November 2016

Cuisses de canard aux navets

The most interesting thing about this version of canard aux navets — duck served with turnips — is the way I cooked the turnips. The duck consists of a couple of leg-and-thigh sections (cuisses). That's one per person. The package I bought contained two such pieces plus four wing pieces, and a little packet of dried thyme. I'm saving the wing pieces for later.


So for the duck legs, you just brown them skin-side down in a hot frying pan. You can put some oil or butter in the pan if you want, but it's not required. When the skin has turned a golden brown color, it will have released enough fat for the fleshy side of the legs to cook without sticking to the pan. You can put in some chopped onion, celery, and herbs at this point. (Substitute chicken or turkey if you can't easily get duck.)


After browning the duck pieces on both sides, add some liquid to the pan — water, white or red wine, broth, or a combination — and let the legs cook, covered, either on top of the stove or in the oven until they are well-cooked and to your taste. Season them with salt and pepper, of course. Long, slow cooking is best, I think.


If you want turnips with the duck, which is a classic combination, cook them this way: peel them and cut them into thick slices — say 2 centimeters (¾ inch). Put them in a pan in one layer and pour in just enough water to come up to the top of the slices without really covering them.


Dot the turnips with a tablespoon or two of butter cut into little cubes. Season them with salt and pepper. Add a tablespoon or two of honey. Turn on the heat to medium high. Leave the pan uncovered. By the time the water evaporates, the turnip slices will be cooked to a fairly tender stage. Check them for doneness with a skewer or the point of a small knife.


Leave them in the pan, and the slices will start to brown — caramelize — and turn a golden color. The slices will be glazed and sweet... almost candied. Turn them over to brown both sides. At this point, turn the heat off as soon as they are nicely browned. You can serve them immediately or leave them in the pan and just reheat them when the duck pieces are ready to be taken to the table.

13 comments:

  1. I'd love to taste this. It looks so yummy! Just like carrots, I love turnips, and turnip greens, to boot.

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  2. I would just be happy with the turnips :)

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  3. 4.75 Euros/kg. I am lucky when I can buy fresh individual duck leg at that price ( usually in spring- other wise I can only get them frozen when i need them in Fall to Winter season ).
    The legs look yummy in that pan :-) and I love them with parsnips

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    1. Parsnips would be very good, like turnips. Duck is good with root vegetables, green garden peas, white beans, or fruits including oranges, cherries, peaches, apricots, quinces, or prunes. We are lucky in France to be able to find duck in all forms and cuts in all our supermarkets at affordable prices.

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  4. Looks delcious and I love the sound of the way you cooked the turnips. I'll try that......Nick, get your apron on.,............!!

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    1. Some people think turnips are too bitter-tasting, but I like them -- especially this way.

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  5. It all looks wonderful...that seems to be a pretty reasonable price for the duck.

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    1. The price was more than reasonable, I thought. With the current dollar-to-euro rate, it came to about $2.35/lb. For duck, you can't beat that.

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  6. I'm going to start adding honey to turnips too. Thanks for cooking for us.

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    1. E., I was going to put sugar in the turnips, because I saw that suggestion in several recipes, but at the last minute I decided to use honey. It was good. I didn't give precise amounts because it all depends on how many turnips you are cooking.

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  7. This sounds like a very good way to cook turnips. And, oh, how I wish we could buy duck cut up around here. But still, we're perhaps lucky to be able to buy frozen whole duck.

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    1. In California I could get frozen whole ducks at the supermarket. They were good, and I could cut them up to use different parts of the bird for different recipes. But that meant the whole duck had to be cooked, in whatever ways. Of course, you can thaw, cook, and then refreeze pieces of the duck.

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