What I Ate For Dinner

Duck legs can be vexing. They're about half the price of the breasts if you buy them separately, which tells you something about how the callous capitalist system regards them relative to their boneless brethren. The meat is great, succulent and rich, but the bones, tendons and cartilage that traverse the thigh and drumstick compose an anatomical dragnet that can be daunting to navigate with a knife and fork. So I wanted to figure out a way to make finger food out of duck legs without offending their dignity. What I came up with is a savory crepe dish that's easy to eat and still features the duck's essential unctuous qualities.

The duck is easy, and I've done it before on the blog. Score the skin several times to allow the fat underneath to render out. Season with salt and pepper, and place in a moderately hot skillet or fry pan. No need for oil in the pan since tons of duck fat will soon coat the bottom anyway. Allow the skin to turn golden brown, about 7-8 minutes. Then transfer to another pan and place in a 350 degree oven to finish off. Should take 10 or so minutes. You do want to transfer the duck to a separate pan before roasting so that the rendered duck fat can cool before you discard it or use for the crepes; if you throw it in the oven with all the rendered duck fat, it'll start smoking something awful.

Now to the crepes. You'll need three per serving, so for two servings, combine two eggs, about a half cup or so of milk and about a cup of flour, along with salt and pepper. Those are approximate measurements. The idea is to have a thick but pourable batter--just like pancake batter. Adjust as you go; more flour to thicken it up, some water or milk to thin it out.

In a non-stick pan, heat some of the duck fat (or butter) on medium high heat. Pour enough batter in to put a thick coat on the bottom of the pan. Swirl the batter around the edge of the pan two or three times to thin it out and increase the size of the crepe. As it sets up, the top of the wet batter will dry out and become like a moist sponge; bubbles will form and then break. Once the batter starts to dry on top, flip it. This seeems tricky at first, and it's basically sink or swim. The basic technique, though, is to slide the crepe forward and then cock the back end down, flipping the crepe 180 degrees back into the pan. You could slide the crepe out of the pan onto a plate and the flop it back in, raw side down, if you want to avoid the flip. It's a very useful skill to have, though. Let the raw side get a bit of color, which should only take a moment or two. Yank it out and repeat.

I've also done the pico de gallo here before. It's just chopped tomato (small dice), a modest amount of chopped shallot, lots of chopped fresh cilantro, lime juice and pepper. Serrano chili would add some heat if you want it.

The vinaigrette for the duck is key since it gives a sweet/sour tang to the final product. Mix one part hoisin sauce, one part vinegar (white wine vinegar or sherry vinegar or rice vinegar is fine), one part sesame oil and one part soy sauce. Emulsify them. Once you have the duck off the bone, chop it into bite-sized pieces, drench in the vinaigrette, and allow the excess to drip off for a few seconds as you pull it out. Place in a bowl lined with a paper towel so that they don't get too saturated with the vinaigrette.

Quick pickled carrots top it off. Just slice the carrots as into strips as thinly as possible, sprinkle with kosher salt and let sit at room temp for 5 minutes. Bean sprouts are great, too, and require no preparation.

Assembly should be obvious.