Muscovy Duck Prosciutto de Provence

Muscovy Duck Prosciutto de Provence

Yup, that's what I am making!! I've been criticized in the past for posting pictures of what we eat but that's not gonna stop me!! Most people don't know what their food looks like or where it comes from. So with my blogs I am hoping to share a little bit of insight and hopefully know how. I am not on a crusade or anything but I think we should respect the process. Oh by the way these Muscovy Duck Breasts were free range and organically raised.

Anyhow I am making Duck Prosciutto out of Muscovy Duck Breast.

My understanding is this......A Muscovy duck breast has about 18% fat, the Pekin duck breast has about 29% and the Moulard is a cross between the Muscovy and the Pekin. Heck I am just experimenting and I am enjoying the process.  In one of my past Blogs I wrote about Duck Prosciutto and how wonderful it was. I am trying something new!!! I love duck. Duck makes great charcuterie and is a wonderful pork alternative. 

Note 1: The weight of meat plus fat is 100%. All ingredients to be added are expressed as a percentage of the weight of meat plus fat. Percentages can be used to standardize recipes regardless of batch size.  All weights are metric. 

Note 2: No weights are given because the weights of meats vary. Everything is a percentage of the meats weight after trimming. Example- Meat weight 2393 grams and we want to find out the amount of salt we need in grams- 2393 X 3.5%=83.755 or 2392/100 X 3.5 =83.755 grams. 

I wanted to try something different this time so I soaked the duck over night in Spiced Rum to kick it up a notch. The next day I applied the cure and spices.

One of the thing that makes this recipe different from all others is the addition of Spiced Rum. I also added Grains of Paradise instead of white pepper or black pepper. The grain comes from the ginger family and has a peppery taste. I also used Herbs de Provence which is a mixture of herbs that should work well with duck.

Putting it all together is quite simple. Like I said earlier, combine the Rum with your duck and soak over night. Next measure out all of your ingredients for the next step.

Combine Pink Salt (aka Cure #2), Salt and dextrose and coat both sides of meat thoroughly. 

                                                        

Next combine the rest of the ingredients and coat both sides of meat like before.

I Vacuumed sealed the breast and plan on flipping them every day for a week. At the end of the week it will be cured. 

I used equilibrium curing instead of excess salt curing. Excess salt curing is a technique where you cover the meat entirely in salt. 

Equilibrium curing is using exact amounts needed for the cure. 
"This method would be the Sous-Vide cooking of the curing world". Jason Molinari

After the curing process I will rinse off the meat and place in a UMAI Dry Bag to dry. The duck will need to lose about 30% of its raw weight (172.2 g) before it will be done which is 401.8 g. 

The Breast have lost exactly 30% of its weight. Here they are in the UMAI bags.

Place Duck Breasts in regular Vac bag and seal for about 6 weeks for the moisture to equalize. 

 Dark mahogany glaze a beautiful sight. 

 Beautiful and easy to slice

Evaluation: It came out great. Color and taste was beyond my expectations. Texture could have been better which is related I believe to the Muscovy Duck Breast. I will replicate this recipe again but will use the Moulard Duck Breast instead. The flavor was very delicate and sweet. This recipe captured everything I was looking for. The spice rum was a good choice. I will try other types of alcohol in the future like Apricot Brandy and Apple Brandy.

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Duck Prosciutto

I have always been fascinated with Charcuterie and the mystical way you can take a raw piece of meat and turn it into something incredibly delicious. Why mystical you ask? I recall going into Katz's Deli (Est 1888)in NYC which of course is the oldest and most famous Deli in the world and was just amazed at all the hanging meat.  Of course not understanding charcuterie made it mystical to me.  

Katz is famous of course for their food and infamous movie scene "When Harry met Sally" .  Seeing all these sausages and various meats behind the counter and wondering how I could make them was something I pondered for a long time.  Before the internet there was no info on the subject unless you knew someone or had a family member that could teach you the craft. No books published that could help either. Charcuterie is both a craft and a science experiment. If you lack the science behind charcuterie you get someone very very sick.

Duck encased in salt & spices. I do not have an exact recipe. I used some crushed thyme, juniper berries and grains of paradise with a touch of sugar. 

This is known as the Box cured method. Meaning just a huge amount of salt encasing the protein. An EQ method is better and full proof. Ahhhhh…. trying something different. 

After 30 hours duck is now cured. 

Duck is rinsed and ready to be wrapped and hung.

I used cheese cloth to encase the duck breast in. 

All wrapped and ready to be hung.

Weighed and hanging from my pot rack.  I noted the weight and time I hung them.  Optimum temp 60 degrees and 65% humidity. The duck breast need to lose at least 30% of its weight before it can be called Duck Prosciutto.  

SEE YA IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS…..


After it has lost the 30% weight loss vac seal for about 6 weeks for the moisture to equalize. 

The Duck Prosciutto charcuterie turned out great. Beyond my wildest dreams is an understatement. Easy to make and ready to eat. It's cured and is safe to eat. Cooking is not necessary.  

The whole project started out on Sept 9, 2013 and I planned on letting it dry until it lost about 30% of its weight which should have taken out 3 plus weeks. Well 19 days later on Sept 28 it had lost 25% of its total weight and based on feel and looks I thought it was ready.  

I sliced it thinly which was reminiscent of the salty pork version. The duck version in my opinion was better than the pork version   Granted I have not eaten the pork version in probably 15 plus years but this was superior.  The Duck prosciutto was bold in flavor and the contrasting white fat to the red-meat was eye popping. I recollect the pork version being being mild.  Not that mild is bad but just different.  

The flavor was robust and the white fat melted in your mouth. 

I am looking forward to making some pasta dishes using the bold duck prosciutto which will be a treat for all. 

What to do with Duck Prosciutto?  I made a Torte which I adapted from a recipe from Kizer Foods. 

VACUUMED SEALED THE REST......

Midnight snack with a friend.  Fruit, cheese and Sparkling Apple cider.  

It was awesome!!! So was the company.