Duck al Mattone with Pear Mostarda

Name: Duck al Mattone with Pear Mostarda
Yield: serves 4 to 8
Ingredients: 3/4 cup kosher salt; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes; 1/2 cup whole black peppercorns; 4 duck halves; Rendered duck fat (8 to 10 cups, or enough to cover), liquefied at room temperature; 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 4 or more lemon wedges, seeds removed; Pear mostarda (preferably Mostarda Mantovana by Casa Forcello); 1/4 cup rendered duck fat (clean fat, not that used to cook the ducks); 8 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced; Kosher salt; 2 cups fresh-cut corn kernels (from 2 ears of corn); 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes; 3 scallions, thinly sliced on an extreme bias starting at the green ends and moving toward the root ends (white and green parts); 1 pound Brussels sprouts; 1/4 cup rendered duck fat (clean fat, not that used to cook the ducks); Kosher salt; 8 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 1 cup Spanish sherry vinegar

January 26, 2012

One of the unique and really great things about duck is that if you do everything right, you are able to get the skin deliciously crisp, as it is here. We borrowed the idea for cooking the duck from a similar dish that is served at Mario and Joe’s Lupa Osteria Romana, in New York. We call it “al mattone,” a term that refers to something (generally chicken) cooked under a brick, because it has the same crisp skin as if you had put pressure on the bird when you cooked it. We serve the duck with either a side of sautéed corn or Brussels sprout leaves. Even though we gave you recipes for both, the idea is that you make only the one that is in season. The duck also comes with a ramekin of pear mostarda, a spicy Italian condiment whose sharp spiciness cuts through the richness of the duck and really makes the dish. To confit the ducks, buy rendered duck fat from the same source as you buy your ducks. We serve half a duck to each guest, but it’s a dish that people often order, along with two or three contorni, to share. Served family style with the corn or Brussels sprouts, and two or three additional contorni, four duck halves could feed six or eight people. After cooking the ducks we like to rest them in the fat they were cooked in for at least 24 hours. Plan accordingly.

Recipe notes