Caneton Molière

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Flexible boning knife or butcher-prepared boned duckling
• •Poultry shears or a small cleaver for the carcass
• •Narrow 6-quart stockpot or oval Dutch oven
• •Trussing needle and strong kitchen twine
• •Clean unbleached muslin cloth large enough to wrap the duckling
• •Fine-mesh sieve and fat separator
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Broiler-safe rack and roasting pan
• •Wide heavy saucepan for reducing the stock

Instructions

1. 1

   Bone the duckling

   Ask the butcher to bone the duckling through the back while preserving the skin and attached meat as one sheet, and insist that every bone comes home with you. If doing it yourself, cut along the backbone, scrape the meat gradually from the carcass, disjoint the shoulders and hips, then work the leg and wing bones out from inside without piercing the skin. Refrigerate the boned bird at once while you prepare the stock.

   Small holes are manageable. Lay a thin flap of nearby skin over each one before stitching; the muslin wrapping will support the repair during poaching.
2. 2

   Build carcass stock

   Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Chop the carcass and larger bones so they fit closely in a roasting pan, then roast them without added fat for 25 to 30 minutes, until deeply browned but never black. Transfer them to a narrow stockpot. Deglaze the roasting pan with some of the measured water, scraping up the fond, then add this and the remaining water to the bones. Bring slowly to a simmer, skim the first foam, and cook uncovered for 50 minutes. This short stock continues extracting while the duck poaches, the honest home equivalent of a stockpot kept permanently on the fire.

3. 3

   Mix the forcemeats

   Set a mixing bowl over ice. Fold the chilled gratin foie-gras forcemeat prepared according to Gratins (No. 268) together with the sausage meat until the mixture is uniform and just tacky, preserving the source's three-to-two ratio. Fry a teaspoonful and taste it, then adjust with a little of the measured salt and pepper only if needed. If the mixture softens or releases fat, stop mixing and chill it for 20 minutes. Ça se rattrape: cold restores the bind, while more stirring only makes it greasy.

4. 4

   Set truffle rows

   Lay the duck skin-side down and spread the meat into an even rectangle, opening the thickest leg portions slightly if necessary. Season the exposed meat with most of the remaining salt and pepper. Spread half the forcemeat over the center, leaving a 1-inch (2.5 cm) border. Arrange 1 ounce (28 g) of truffle in two straight, parallel rows running from neck to tail through the thickest part, then cover them with the remaining forcemeat. Keep the filling even from end to end; this geometry is what lets the duck cook through without sacrificing its outer meat.

5. 5

   Stitch and wrap

   Bring the two long skin edges over the filling so they meet along the back. Tuck in the neck and tail ends, then sew the seam with a trussing needle and strong kitchen twine, using loose stitches about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart. The skin should contain the filling without compressing it hard, since the forcemeat expands as it cooks. Wrap the reconstructed duck tightly in a clean unbleached muslin cloth, roll it into an even galantine shape, and tie it at five or six intervals. If a seam opens, overlap it, add another stitch, and rewrap. Ça se rattrape.

6. 6

   Poach at a tremble

   Strain the carcass stock into the narrowest pot that will hold the wrapped duckling and bring it to 180°F (82°C). Lower in the duck, weighting it with a small heatproof plate if it floats, and hold the stock between 175°F and 180°F (79°C and 82°C). It must barely tremble, never boil. Poach for 85 to 105 minutes, checking through the cloth at the thickest center, until the filling reaches 165°F (74°C). If the stock boils, pull the pot off the heat immediately and let it fall below 180°F before continuing. The duck isn't ruined, but a sustained boil will force out fat and toughen the forcemeat. Lift the duck onto a rack and rest it, still wrapped, for 15 minutes.

7. 7

   Clear and reduce

   Strain the poaching stock through a fine sieve, let it settle for 5 minutes, then remove every visible trace of fat with a separator or careful ladling. Return the defatted stock to a wide saucepan and boil steadily until about 2 cups (475 ml) remain and the liquid lightly coats a spoon. Do not season before reducing, because the stock concentrates fiercely. If it looks greasy or cloudy, let it settle again and separate the fat before continuing; repeated egg-white clarification belonged to a staffed kitchen, while thorough skimming preserves the intent at home.

8. 8

   Glaze the duckling

   Heat the broiler and place a rack about 6 inches (15 cm) beneath it. Unwrap the rested duck, snip and remove every stitch, then pat the skin completely dry. Reserve ⅓ cup (80 ml) of the reduced stock and brush a thin coat over the duck. Following the glazing operation within Gratins (No. 268), broil for 1 to 2 minutes, brush again, and repeat until two or three coats form a taut chestnut lacquer. Watch without wandering. If one patch colors too quickly, shield it with foil and continue glazing the pale areas.

9. 9

   Finish Madeira sauce

   Add the Madeira to the remaining reduced duck stock and boil until the sauce reaches nappé, a coating consistency, and about 1¼ cups (300 ml) remain. Add the reserved 1 ounce (28 g) of sliced truffle and simmer gently for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the cold butter a few pieces at a time until the sauce gleams. Taste and use the remaining salt and pepper as needed. If the sauce tightens too far, loosen it with a spoonful of water; if the butter separates, whisk in a teaspoon of cold water off the heat. Ça se rattrape.

10. 10

    Coat and carve

    Transfer the glazed duckling to a warmed oval platter. Spoon the Madeira sauce over it generously, letting the sliced truffles settle across the lacquered skin and the sauce pool around the base. Carve crosswise into thick slices so each portion reveals duck meat, foie-gras forcemeat, and the two dark truffle rows. Never apologize at your own table. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Have the butcher bone the duckling while leaving the skin and flesh in one continuous piece, and ask for the carcass, neck, wing bones, and every trimming. Without those bones there is no proper poaching stock, glaze, or sauce.
• •Fresh black truffle gives the clearest perfume and the firm slices this dish expects. Outside its season, use good whole truffles preserved in their own juice and add that juice to the Madeira sauce. Truffle oil cannot supply the two rows or their texture.
• •Use real dry or medium-dry Madeira, not salted cooking wine. The sauce reduces the wine until its character is concentrated, so the bottle must taste sound before it reaches the pan.
• •Temperature decides the poach more reliably than time. Test through the cloth into the very center of the filling and do not remove the duck below 165°F (74°C), since both poultry and sausage meet there.
• •Pour a mature red Burgundy with gentle tannin. The duck, foie gras, and truffle need fragrance and acidity more than brute weight.

Advance Preparation

• •The gratin foie-gras forcemeat prepared according to Gratins (No. 268) can be made one day ahead and held covered below 40°F (4°C). Keep it thoroughly cold until mixing.
• •The carcass stock can be prepared through its first simmer one day ahead. Chill it promptly, remove the solidified fat, and reheat it to 180°F (82°C) before poaching.
• •The duckling can be filled, stitched, and wrapped up to 8 hours before cooking. Refrigerate it on a tray and return it to the cold immediately after handling.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 375g)