Braised Duck Skin Sausages with Cauliflower-Horseradish Puree
Duck was frequently on my menu when I was chef in the earliest days at what was to become the internationally acclaimed Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California. I purchased the ducks whole, with heads and feet still on, in San Francisco’s Chinatown. It was always a chore to find a place to park, but I was intent on fresh-is-best even back then, plus the people and markets provided a wonderful ethnographic adventure close to home. Searching for something to do with the many necks left from cutting up the ducks, I created this duck sausage using the necks as casing. I made a broth from the bones and other trimmed bits and braised the sausages in it. Serendipity! The lengthy braising softens the skin casing almost to butter, moistening the sausages as they cook and producing a rich sauce for dressing the sausages when they are served. For this book, I have adapted the recipe to call for whole duck legs (drumstick and thigh combinations): easier to get and equally fabulous.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4
Ingredients
Puree
Preparation
Step 1
Combine the morels and brandy in a small bowl and set aside to rehydrate for 20 minutes, or longer is okay.
Step 2
Sever the duck legs at the thigh joint. Pull off the skins from the thighs and set aside. Cut the meat off the thigh bones and drumsticks, including any skin on the drumsticks. Reserve the bones. Mince or grind the meat and drumstick skin. Squeeze the brandy out of the morels, reserving the liquid. Chop the morels and place them in a medium bowl, along with the duck meat, nutmeg, thyme, tangerine zest, pepper, and reserved brandy from soaking the morels. Mix with your hands until well blended. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or for up to 4 hours.
Step 3
Meanwhile, combine the broth and duck bones in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until any scraps of meat remaining on the bones easily pull off, about 45 minutes. Remove from the heat, strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, and set the broth aside until ready to use. Discard the contents of the strainer.
Step 4
Stuff the sausage into the thigh skins and secure the ends closed with toothpicks. Don’t worry if the sausages look a little lopsided.
Step 5
To cook the sausages, film a large, heavy skillet with a little duck fat or oil and place over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and brown lightly, turning once, about 6 minutes total. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to maintain a brisk simmer, cover, and cook until the skins have begun to soften, about 1 hour. Remove the cover and continue simmering briskly, turning twice, until the liquid has reduced to a glaze, 45 minutes to 1 hour more.
Step 6
While the sausages simmer, cook the puree. Bring a medium saucepan filled halfway with water to a boil over high heat. Core the cauliflower and cut it into 1/2-inch florets. Add the florets and boil them until they are mashable, 10 minutes or so. Drain and let cool slightly, then transfer to a food processor. Add the cream and puree until smooth and fluffy. Spoon into a bowl, stir in the horseradish and salt.
Step 7
Transfer the sausages to a platter and spoon the puree around them. Pour the pan sauce over the sausages and serve right away.
