Lisa's Birthday Dinner: Duck daktulos Messinia

Duck daktulos Messinia

I love duck -- one of my most favorite things to eat. Unfortunately domestic duck is quite fatty, so I don't eat it as often as I would like. This recipe I made up, using Mediterranean spices and homemade Greek Messinia noodles. I'll try to remember what I put into this --

1 whole duckling
1 cup pitless dates
Herbs and Spices to taste: coriander,cardamon,garlic,dash of cinnamon,dash of powdered ginger, salt and black pepper
Tablespoon or two of wine (a bold white or medium red)
Stock -- 1/4 to 1/2 a cup (chicken or duck - I made stock from wings of duck, neck, and liver/gizzards/heart)
Scallions finely chopped -- several tablespoons.

For noodles:

cup of flour
one egg
water if needed
1/4 tsp salt

I rubbed the duck with salt and pepper and a bit of cardamon and coriander, then roasted it slowly for four hours or so on a charcoal grill (coals on the side, duck in the center, add more coals as necessary until done). Cook until the duck is almost falling off the bone, but don't let it dry out. I also added a couple of small pieces of apple wood chips at beginning of the roasting for a hint of smokey flavor.

Take duck and cool slightly, then strip meat from legs, thighs, and any other parts of the duck except the breasts and chop into medium-small pieces(if you are cooking for more people, use the breasts as well, but we only had six and these were portions for a tasting menu). [Hint: you can include a bit of the roasted skin in the duck mixture or not. It tends to be quite fatty, and thus adds some nice moisture, but its not good for the old ticker.]

Place dates in boiling water and let steep for fifteen minutes or a half hour. Skins should begin to peel back from meat of date. Drain and then when cool peel off the skins of the dates with your fingers, chop into small pieces (date meats, not your fingers!). Place scallions, a bit of minced garlic (half a clove), spices listed above to taste (don't overpower the duck -- a pinch here and there will do)and saute for a few minutes in butter, add duck, wine, stock, and dates. Cook over medium-low heat until everything blends together -- half hour to an hour. [Can be made ahead and reheated.]

Noodles: Messinia noodles are broad and flat. I made my own:

Put flour, egg, salt in a food processor and blend until you have a nice (not wet) ball of dough. If you need to add a touch of water, do so until the flour begins to ball up. Remove and roll out as thinly as possible on a board (or use a pasta machine). Cut into inch-wide or so strips. I cut mine approxinately an inch wide and 3-4 inches long with a pasta wheel.

Put it all together:

Cook noodles in boiling water until just done (soft al dente, or to taste). Place noodles on plate (four or five strips piled on top of each other in no particular arrangement) -- spoon duck mixture on top,serve warm -- very, very yummy.

Enjoy!

Joe Koob