Duck risotto

This creamy risotto with shredded duck on top is a colourful dish, perfect  for a cold night. I got the inspiration for this one from a trendy restaurant in Bairro Alto. It looks more complicated than it actually is. Prepare the stock beforehand then you can do the risotto and the duck at the same time.

Ingredients for 4 or 5

Duck stock

• 2 or 3 duck legs or 1/2 duck
• 1 carrot
• 1 stalk of celery
• some parsley
• salt
• pepper

1. Prepare the duck stock by boiling the above in 3 litres of water for 1 hour at least.

Shredded duck

• butter
• 2 sliced onions
• 1 tablespoon wholemeal flour
• cooked duck from above, skinned and shredded
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• salt
• pepper
• water

2. Remove the duck from the stock, let it cool, remove skin and bones and shred.
3. Brown the sliced onions in butter, then add the flour, and mix until not lumpy
4. Add the shredded duck, salt, pepper, soy sauce and water
5. Season with salt (if necessary, because soy sauce is already salty) and pepper
6. Cook gently until the sauce thickens

Risotto

• 1 chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic
• olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup arborio rice
• 1 cup white wine
• stock from above
• 1 pinch some saffron
• salt
• pepper
• a bit of parmesan cheese
• butter

7. Stir fry the onions in olive oil in a large, deep casserole and mix until golden
8. Add the garlic whole
9. Add the rice and keep stirring
10. Mix in the saffron
11. Add the wine and keep stirring until it evaporates

12. Pour in a ladle of boiling duck stock over the rice and keep stirring until it evaporates
13. Pour in some more stock and keep mixing
14. Carry on until the rice is cooked
14. Turn off the heat and mix in the parmesan and butter

Serve the risotto with the warm duck on top and some green vegetables on the side.

Confit de canard

In France, you can get very good confit in a tin and all you have to do is grill it. Here in Portugal, these tins are hard to come by when you do find them they can be ridiculously expensive. So I started making my own confit. This is a much lighter, mediterranean version of the traditional recipe from the south-west of France. I usually serve confit with perigourdin potatoes.

Ingredients

• duck thighs (1 per person)
• salt
• olive oil
  

1. Season the duck thighs with salt and let them stand for 20 minutes.
2. Pat dry the duck with a paper towel, place the thighs in a medium-sized pan (preferably a cast-iron casserole)
   
3. Cover with olive oil and simmer in very low heat for around 2 hours (this can be done in advance then kept refrigerated for a few days)
4. Around fifteen minutes before serving, grill the duck thighs till the skin turns crispy.
   

Voilà!

Arroz de Pato (baked rice with shredded duck)

This is one of my favourite Portuguese dishes. It takes a little time to prepare because it takes time to shred the duck, but this can be done a day or two in advance. After that, it's really simple and easy to prepare for a large group of people, especially when you are not sure what time everyone will arrive. It was perfect for a late Saturday lunch for eight.

Ingredients (for eight people)

1 duck
2.5 cups of rice
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 bay leaves
olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup vegetable oil
1 chorizo sausage
salt
white pepper

1. Cut the duck into pieces, season them with salt and let them stand for 20 minutes.
2. Pat dry the duck with a paper towel, place it in a medium-sized pan (preferably a cast-iron casserole) with the vegetable oil; cover and cook in very low heat for around 1 hour and forty minutes.
   
3. Leave the duck in the pan until it cools to room temperature.
4. Skin, bone and shred the duck; keep just the shredded meat.
5. Save any congealed jelly left in the pan and discard the remaining vegetable oil.
   
   (steps 1 to 5 can be done a couple of days in advance; refrigerate the duck and the jelly)
   
   
6. Chop the onion and stir-fry it in olive oil in a large casserole.
   
7. Add the garlic whole, the bay leaves, salt and pepper.
8. Mix in the rice and keep stirring.
9. Add the wine and stir until it evaporates.
10. Add the shredded duck and the jelly.
11. Add 5 cups of water, give it a good mix and cover the pan.
12. Cook in low heat for around 20 minutes.
13. Transfer the rice to a baking dish and decorate it with slices of chorizo sausage.
    
    (steps 6 to 13 can be done before your guests arrive)
    
    
14. Bake for around 15 minutes, until the chorizo is cooked.
    

Serve with a green salad