In a more perfect world, all of us will have the time, patience and skill to make our own supply of rich duck stock to have on hand whenever we want to deglaze a pan after searing and roasting chicken or duck *******, or want to make a rich sauce to go with a whole roasted bird, a roasted turkey breast or other fowl. Here on Planet Earth, we resort to More Than Gourmet Glace de Canard. It's not a terrible compromise at all. Like the Glace de Viande from More Than Gourmet, this stuff is the lazy man's (or woman's) way to pretty darned good sauce on the fly.
A suggested method - make about one cup of concentrated stock with one of these 1.5 ounce containers of jelled stock. Sear fat duck ******* (magrets) in a heavy pan, then continue to roast in a hot oven to about 130 F, at which point they will still be rosy in the middle, but sufficiently cooked for safety as they will continue to cook after you remove them from the heat. Lay the ******* on a cutting board over a pile of fresh herbs (typically I will use fresh stalks of lavender, thyme and rosemary). This will subtly flavor the meat and any juices that will flow as the ******* continue to cook a bit from their retained heat. Your pan will be really hot. Pour off the fat (with duck ******* you will have been doing this through the cooking process as they throw off a lot. Keep it to use for other purposes, if you wish). Pour a good amount of cognac in the pan. Flame it. Scrape up the bits and caramelized juices in the pan. Add decent quality amontillado, or port, or red wine. Reduce by at least half. Add your cup of duck stock. Continue to reduce. Towards the end, add a tablespoon or so of decent balsamic vinegar (I like the 'house balsamic' from W-S for this) and a dash of Worcestershire sauce for a bit of umami. When the resulting sauce is silky you may consider it ready, or you could richen it up with a touch of cream, or swirl a pat or so of butter into your sauce. If in the mood, you could add some tiny cherries preserved in light syrup and cognac, or huckleberries, or some dried cherries or cranberries previously plumped up in warm water, or chopped fresh herbs, or wild mushrooms browned in butter, or whatever. Slice duck ******* at an angle so you have nice wide slices perhaps a quarter inch thick, fan out on plates, nap with the sauce and provide the rest in a small bowl or pitcher for the table. For more decadent presentation, place the slices around the edge of a bed of silky riced and whipped potatoes or polenta before saucing.
Voila. Serve with a decent bottle of red burgundy (or good beaujolais, or chinon, or bordeaux, or whatever red fits your mood), appropriate vegetable accompaniments and a crusty baguette, and away you go, without spending a day or more making the wonderful stock that holds this meal together.
Buying these six packs of single use containers is the way to go, unless you do this often enough get through a 16 oz tub before mold gets to it. By the half dozen, the price offered here is quite fair.
Indispensable stuff.
