Ideas on duck sausage

[phatch]

I'm thinking of recreating/interpreting a dish my wife ate at a now defunct restaurant. Basics were half a duck, leg meat removed and turned into a sausage and restuffed into the skin. The breast and "leg" were then seared in a pan and roasted. She's always been a fan of duck so she'll be happy with just about anything I do.

This was a Greek/Italian/Mediteranean kind of place.

My issue is about the sausage and fat.I've never done much with duck so I'm looking for some insight. Do I want to pull duck fat from the mix and use pork? How much to remove or add? Will it get enough Just from being cooked in the skin?

Flavorings I'm thinking of are lemon (peel mostly) garlic, pine nuts. Probably a touch of heat, debating some wine or a splash of balsamic vinegar. I'm not committed to any particular herb. Rosemary kind of sticks in my mind though.

I'm thinking I'll leave the "drumstick" bone in too for flavor but probably not the thigh bone just for ease of prep. I'll tuck the attached thigh skin around the top and pin it over the protruding sausage.

Any thing else I should know about duck and forcemeats together?

I'll probably serve it over rice with a rustic sauce derived from the pan's fond.

Phil

[kuan]

How are you making the sausage? Personally I would not try and restuff the leg. I'd use the duck skin. First I would make the sausage out of ground duck, duck fat, and a panade. Then I would use duck skin for the casing and cook it like duck confit. Crisp it up in the oven to serve.

[phatch]

I saw a recipe online where Ming Tsai did that. Seems like a good approach.

Do I still want a 20% fat content for duck suasage?

Phil

[deltadoc]

Julia Child had a recipe where you cut up a chicken, processed it with heavy cream and spices, laced it with a mixture of cognac soaked pitachios, cubed ham, shallots and tarragon, and then used a cotton string and a threading needle to make a drawstring bag out of the entire chicken skin. Stuff the drawstring bag, "diaper" it with cheesecloth, and then tie string around it to make a melon type of shape. The consistency after baking in the oven, was much like sausage, and I would assume this same process could be applied to the duck. Excess fat would drain out from the "bag" while imparting the flavor at the same time.

doc

[ExpatC]

The first thought I have is a variation I tried in Italy. Cook the duck skin to "cracklin's' , small but not minute pieces. I would do it in a traditional casing. Last, I would not do rosemary, I think it might overwhelm the whole thing You have given me a good idea though, I will try that monday and somhow get apple in there!