Duck Sausage Recipes

Steps:

• Rinse the duck under cold running water both inside and out. Remove any excess fat at the cavity opening and at the neck. Use a sharp boning or butcher's knife to cut the back on either side of the spine. Remove the spine and reserve for stock. Cut through the breastbone of the duck to give you 2 halves. Cut the legs from each half as well as the first 2 digits of the wings. Set the legs aside, and cut the breasts in half horizontally.
• Season the duck with 2 teaspoons of Essence. Place a large Dutch oven over medium heat for 2 minutes, or until hot. Place the seasoned duck, skin side down in the pan and sear until golden brown, about 7 to 8 minutes. Turn the duck over and sear on the second side as well for an additional 7 to 8 minutes. Remove the duck from the pan and place on a platter while you make the roux.
• Add the vegetable oil to the pan as well as the flour. Using a wooden spoon, stir the roux continuously over medium heat until the color of dark chocolate, about 20 to 25 minutes. Add the onions, celery and peppers and garlic to the roux and stir, gently until the vegetables are slightly wilted, about 4 to 5 minutes. Pour the beer over the vegetables and stir to incorporate. Add the stock/water to the pan with the thyme, bay leaves, Essence, cayenne pepper and the remaining 2 teaspoons of salt. Add the sausage. Stir the pot well to ensure that the roux and the stock are well blended. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the gumbo to a boil; then lower to a simmer. Return the seared duck pieces to the pan and cook (skimming any foam and fat that may rise to the surface), for 1 hour and 30 minutes. After an hour and a half, remove the duck pieces from the gumbo and place on a platter to cool. Once the duck is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and meat from the bones and add the meat to the gumbo. Discard the skin and bones and re-season the gumbo, if necessary.
• To serve the gumbo, ladle 1 cup into a heated soup bowl with 1/4 cup white rice. Garnish with the green onions and chopped parsley.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch, published by William Morrow, 1993.

Steps:

• It is best to prepare these sausages one day in advance and refrigerate them until ready to cook.
• Cut away and reserve the meat from the ducks. There should be about 2 pounds of meat. Discard the bones and any fibrous membranes. Reserve 1/4 pound duck fat.
• Cut the duck meat into 1-inch cubes and put in a mixing bowl. Chop up the duck fat and add it and the thyme, bay leaf, allspice, salt and pepper. Blend well.
• If using a sausage stuffer, put half the duck mixture into the container of a food processor and blend until the mixture is slightly finer than hamburger. Repeat with the remainder. Combine the two batches and add the pistachios. Blend well in a bowl. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for filling the sausage casings. If using a meat grinder and stuffer, follow the manufacturer's instructions for stuffing the casings. When the filling has been added, pinch off the casing and tie a knot at each end. Tie a piece of string at 5- or 6-inch intervals. There should be 11 or 12 sausages. Wrap the sausages in clear plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• To cook, cut off as many lengths of sausage as desired. Prick each sausage all over, forming pin-sized holes. Grill or broil the sausages, turning as necessary, about 15 minutes or until done. Or preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the sausages in a skillet and add 1/8 inch water. Bring the water to a boil on top of the stove and place the skillet in the oven. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, turning once, or until the sausages are done.

Steps:

• Place beans in bowl, cover with water to a depth of 2 inches and allow to soak at least 4 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse beans.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• In a heavy casserole slowly saute the salt pork or bacon until it is golden. Or heat the duck fat. Add duck sausage and saute until lightly browned. Remove duck sausage from the pan. Add onions and carrot to the pan and saute until onions are golden. Stir in the garlic.
• Add tomatoes, return beans to casserole and add bouquet garni. Add two cups water and several generous grindings of black pepper. Add two cups boiling water. Slice duck sausage into chunks 1 inch thick and add it.
• Cover casserole and place in oven. Bake for 2 hours. Remove bouquet garni, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.