Plucking Duck Feathers

Christmas 2009

Two and a half hours into the duck plucking, with all the feathers that hadn’t already settled on some surface wafting gently in the kitchen, I began to regret forgoing the water dip. 

At least the ducks didn’t smell.

Andrew and Matthew couldn’t be convinced to help, but Christopher wandered by and took pity on me.  I passed him the duck I had given up on and he went to fetch pliers to remove the wing and tail feathers.  Tadaaki breezed in, rolled his eyes at the mess I was making, grabbed a duck and left.  Christopher (more practical than I) followed him out not too long after.  But before that, we got to talking about the yearly duck plucking.  A bit like childbirth, it’s an ordeal I always conveniently forget until Christmas rolls around one more time and I’m back tugging at those impossibly recalcitrant feathers that don’t seem to want to separate from their host.  Someone told me recently that we should be plucking the ducks immediately upon killing.  After all these years, why didn’t we know that?

And why are the Moscovy ducks harder to pluck than the little wild Mallard ducks?  And why are the glossy green ones a bit easier than the plain white and black ones?  And who cares anyway?  But these are the things that went through my mind as I plucked the Christmas ducks with Early Joan Baez cranked up high on the stereo (do people still say “stereo?”).

When we were having babies, we used to buy the ducks from a duck farm.  The duck guy would kill to order (either Moscovy or wild ducks, our choice), and then send them beautifully packed and separated by cut, down to individually wrapped livers, hearts and gésiers.  I often made confit in those days, so he also included extra duck fat, ready to render.  I don’t know how much the ducks cost, but those were glorious days.  I reminisced with Christopher of those featherless Christmases and he wondered if we wouldn’t go back to ordering ducks from the duck man.

The idea is seductively enticing, but I don’t think we will.  It’s not about the money, but about not giving up on how we choose to live our life and sticking to a code of ethics when it comes to creating our food.  It’s a lot easier to buy our rice or flour…or even vegetables for that matter.  And it’s a hell of a lot easier to buy our Christmas ducks, plucked and cleaned.  But then we would lose that feeling—that feeling that tunnels into your core and spreads throughout your body when you take a bite of food that you have created from seed or have lovingly raised, respectfully killed and then painstakingly cleaned.  And that’s a feeling for which there is no duplicate, and that feeling is addicting because it reaches in and grabs your soul.

 
David Tanis’ Double Duck Breast  For 6 large Moscovy duck breasts:  grind 1 tsp. peppercorns, ½ tsp. each allspice & juniper berries, a few cloves and a couple bay leaves.  Mix with 3 Tbsp. coarse sea salt and add 6 slivered garlic cloves.  Coat the breasts with the spice mixture, massaging it in with your fingers so the mixture adheres well to the breasts.  Pair up the duck breasts by size and shape, then place one on top of the other so the skin side is out.  Tie together with kitchen twine (about 3 times evenly spaced out around the middle horizontally, than once more around from end to end, weaving in the string at each cross tie.  Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.  (I left them for a couple days.)  Remove breasts from fridge well before cooking time (2-3 hours).  They should be room temperature when you cook them.  Preheat oven to 400˚F & cook in a roasting pan or cast iron skillet for 15 minutes.  If needed, pour off fat (strain and reserve for other cooking), turn and cook for an additional 15 minutes (if you use a thermometer--125˚F for medium rare).  Let roasts sit for 10 minutes before slicing.  When Tadaaki cut the strings and took the ducks apart they looked a bit raw on the sides that were sandwiched together.  I made the mistake of putting them back in the oven for 5 minutes, so they turned out medium.  (I like my duck on the rare side.)  Also, the sad truth was, our ducks were a bit tough this year.  I think it’s time to get more chicks this spring.  The duck method comes from one of the best-written cookbooks I have ever read:  David Tanis’ a platter of figs, a collection of eclectic recipes that scream “make me now.”  David is the head chef at Chez Panisse half the year and skulks the farmers markets in Paris the other half.  I served the duck with David’s turmeric and spice-flavored pickled turnips, Tadaaki’s organic brown rice and Alishan organic dried figs simmered in red wine.

 
Braised Duck Legs with Leeks and Green Olives yields a syrupy sauce redolent of briny olives and lemon peel.  I used some fall crop unpasteurized Lucques olives that I had saved for the holidays, though Picholines would also work well.  This recipe (with some slight variations) is from the cookbook that no kitchen should be without:  Alice Waters’ The Art of Simple Food.  Rub coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper into 6 Moscovy duck legs and refrigerate for at least half a day, but preferably overnight.  Remove from fridge and let come to room temperature.  Preheat oven to 425˚F.  Heat 3 Tbsp. tasty olive oil in a small roasting pan and add 3 roughly chopped leek stems (don’t use the dark green tops that v-off—I used Japanese negi), 2 roughly chopped medium carrots (peeled or not—I used more).  Cook over medium flame for 3 minutes.  Stir in a small handful each of thyme sprigs, and Italian parsley if you have it (I didn’t), a few bay leaves and 1½ cups good quality unpitted green olives.  Cook 3 minutes more, then set the duck legs in the pan, skin side down.  Add ¾ cup white wine, 2¼ cups duck (or chicken) broth and strips of organic lemon zest from 2 or 3 (Meyer) lemons.  The legs should be sitting about halfway into the liquid, but not submerged.  Bring to a simmer, then put in preheated oven for 30 minutes.  Take duck pan from oven, turn and return to oven, lowering the temperature to 325˚F and cook for another 1 to 1½ hours. Remove legs to dinner plates (or a platter).  Skim off any excess fat and spoon the olive-lemon zest-carrot sauce over the legs. Serve with simple organic polenta (also from Simple Food—though I’d omit the parmesan cheese) and sautéed organic greens from the farm.

 

Comments

[Mora Chartrand-Grant]

Delicious photos! While the duck looks amazing, I found myself sighing over the vegetable sides, especially the pickled turnips and Tadaaki's rice. Your family and friends are indeed fortunate to have you in charge of the kitchen, Nancy.

[Nancy Singleton Hachisu]

Mora: The pickled turnips were very, very good. The turmeric and spice worked well against the figs and rich duck meat. Of course Tadaaki's brown rice made the plate complete. I use a method I read about in Saveur a few years ago. Cook the brown rice in a large pot of boiling water for 30 minutes, drain, return to pan, cover and let steam naturally (with no heat) for 20 minutes. Salt, aerate and serve. Oh, and if you don't have David Tanis' a platter of figs, I'd get it. His food stories are enough to make you jump on a plane.

Christopher's apps are done and now it's a matter of crossing our fingers. I'll keep you posted about our Portland plans. In the meantime, I keep thinking about that cappuccino at Coffeehouse Northwest. My nephew reminded me that half & half complements coffee better than whole milk (I think I switched to milk because we don't have half & half in Japan). I've been adding a dollop of the grass-fed cow cream to my milk before heating it up in the morning and the Peet's is hitting the spot (though still "jonesing" for that perfect cappuccino). Nancy

[Brad Fisher]

Nancy, your duck plucking story reminded me of my first (and only) plucking experience -- a home-grown (I suppose the proper term today would be 'free range') Rhode Island Red. Sadly, after all the work and fuss, it turned out to be the scrawniest bird that ever graced our table. We went back to Safeway after that. That was Kenwood, California, a couple of years before Stanford and the Eating Clubs. (Now THAT was food! Kidding, of course, except for Martha's cinnamon rolls.)

Your blog is a great discovery. I spent a year in Tokyo after college, teaching English, and I still miss Japan. Thanks for sharing.

All the best ...

Brad '76

[Nancy Singleton Hachisu]

Brad: It's amazing how many people I come across (in various places in my life) have spent time in Japan and remember it fondly. Well, there is no reason not to. It may drive us crazy periodically, but there is a lot to love about this country. How did you find me? Sally & Craig...Heidi? Were you in Arcos? Is that Martha Hardwick who made the cinnamon rolls or one of the EC cooks? Our Johnnie May just loved to slap on the grease. Even when I was business manager junior year, I often made my own food. Though she was sick for several weeks and I had a grand old time cooking the dinners for 80 (took a few incompletes that quarter). Check out the chicken cleaning post. I bet if you tried "real" birds again and cooked them right, you'd be rethinking the Safeway route. Though perhaps you already have. I recommend Mary's chicken in the frozen section of California Sun on California Ave if you're still in PA.

Thanks for reading, I'll put you on the email announcement. --Nancy

[Brad Fisher]

The Internet being what it is, ditto my short-term memory, I've already forgotten how I found you ... it was either through the Alumni mag or through some auto-generated Facebook or LinkedIn thing. My long-term memory may be not so good either: I thought the Arcos cook was named Martha, but you're right. Maybe Martha was the Tigre cook, and the cinnamon rolls came from there. I managed Cuadro and cooked short order on Sundays, but made sure I was not far from the Tigre kitchen when the rolls were cooking. By the way, I am indeed in PA, but it's Pennsylvania, not Palo Alto -- Pittsburgh to be exact.

[Naimah]

i love duck, it's definitely a special occasion food, though. yours looks delicious.

Naimah

[Nancy Singleton Hachisu]

Naimah: I agree that duck is a special occasion food. I look forward to eating it every year at Christmas and occasionally in California if it comes up on the prix fixe menu. Otherwise, I tend not to order it. It's that anticipation that really gets you. Still don't love the plucking, but I'm going to try the kill and pluck method next year (with younger ducks). Nancy

[preeva tramiel]

Hi, Nancy,
Did I tell you I went to a farm, and plucked my own chickens in December?
Because of kashrut, we did not do the hot water bath, but we were cautioned to get to the chickens as soon as possible after they bled out, because when they are warm the feathers come out more easily.
We were also told to pluck the wings and legs first, as they are hardest to do, and work inward from there.

Reading about your chicken plucking experience prepared me. I caught the chickens (free range, pasture fed, but in little moveable coops I had to crawl into) myself. There were no chicken lice, which I expected. The farmer showed us how he plucked his chickens. He dunked the slaughtered chickens in a big pot of hot water, then put them in a vibrating drum with rubber fingers. The fingers cleaned the chickens completely in a few minutes.

Knowing this, I think you should either borrow time on such a gizmo, or let the duck guy use his and buy the ducks plucked.

[Rodney Fong]

Nancy and Brad - Martha was the cook at Cuadro, and I remember her fondly, as much as Johnnie Mae, having spent time in both Cuadro and Los Arcos. Nice to see you posting here, Brad. I still remember our trip to Yosemite with Scooter, Tim, Chuck, Amy and Becky. Somewhere I still have a photo of you juggling axes.

[Farmrgirl]

I feel your feather pulling pain on those Muscovy! I do believe, however, that plucking immediately and using a scalder makes the process easier - back feathers and wing feathers not withstanding.

I would really like to know how you dispatch yours. They're such strong birds that I'm unable to successfully use the cone method as I do with my chickens and mallard ducks.

[[email protected]]

Farmrgirl: This year (as it turned out) we couldn't replenish our duck population with chicks in the spring (long story), so we ended up ordering mallard ducks from the duck farmer. He killed, plucked, cleaned and butchered them for us (though in a bit of miscommunication deboned the thighs...).

But generally I agree on the plucking immediately as I can see the differences in our chickens, though do not agree on the hot water bath. I have found it does not make the feathers come off any easier, plus it makes the birds smell and the feathers slippery. So I prefer the dry pluck method. These ducks were just too old and with age they become harder and harder to pluck. Plus, I find the Muscovy ducks give up their feathers reluctantly in any case.

As for dispatching...I've done it rarely and only under my husband's watchful eye, but basically it's a quick cut right under the cheek bone or whatever bone that is called toward the top of the neck.