Lobster Lettuce Rolls

This lobster salad is traditional but uses the roll as a crouton so that you get the right mouth feel without a lot of bread.  Use 1/2 a lightly toasted and torn roll for a cup of lobster salad.

It makes sense to lighten up the recipe by serving it in lettuce cups but without the New England style hot dog bun with the slit at the top, toasted with a dab of butter, it never feels like home to me.  This summer my inland supermarket stocked the New England rolls and I snapped up packages for the freezer anticipating both lobster rolls and hot dogs on the grill. 

Lobster Lettuce Rolls
Serves 2, easily doubled

Ingredients
2 cups cooked lobster meat (claw, joint and tail from about two 1 1/3 lobsters)
1/4 cup good quality mayonnaise
Juice from 1/2 lemon
1 stalk celery, chopped
salt, black pepper, paprika
1 hot dog roll, New England style if available
1/3 head iceburg lettuce (or other old school lettuce of your choice)

Method

1. Place torn roll on a baking sheet and lightly toast for 5-7 minutes in a 300˚F oven.  Do not brown the bread.  
2. Meanwhile cut lobster meat into bite sized chunks, leaving pieces large enough to recognize as real lobster.  
3. Place lobster in a medium mixing bowl and add mayonnaise, lemon juice, celery and seasonings.  Finally, toss in hot dog roll croutons.  
4. Serve in lettuce cups.

How to Cook a Lobster
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add 1/4 cup salt.  Lower heat to simmer and add lobsters, head first.  Simmer 5 minutes for 1st pound and an additional 3 minutes for each pound more. (2 lobsters would take about 10-11 minutes.) Remove lobsters with tongs and allow to cool in a shallow dish or roasting pan,  When cool enough to handle use kitchen sheers, lobster (nut) crackers and seafood forks to remove meat.  Be patient. Play nice music. 

Catalina Pasta Salad

Remember Catalina Dressing?  This is the original.  Not sickly sweet, not full of preservatives, not suffering from tired old herbs.  This Catalina Dressing is zesty with bright tomato, onion and lemony flavors with just a hint of honey for balance.  Tasters loved this and happy to learn there is only 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the entire jar of dressing. 

It is perfect over pasta salads with chick peas, chunks of black olive, red bell pepper, chopped celery, cucumber and carrot strips.   Toss up a batch for pasta salad and save a little dressing for your next green salad.  It is a great match for the cucumbers coming out of gardens now. 

The key to Catalina Dressing is grated onion.  Grating onion is a cool technique that garners a distinctive sweet onion flavor and adds creamy texture to the dressing.  Simply cut a sweet onion, like Vidalia, in quarters and draw it over a cheese grater's large holes.  Very fast and effective way to get both juice and pulp.

Catalina Dressing
Makes about 10 ounces

Ingredients
1 8-oz can plain tomato sauce
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 Vidalia onion, grated
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon ketchup
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Method
Mix all ingredients together and toss with your favorite pasta salad ingredients.  Allow pasta salad to cool completely before serving.

Catalina Dressing will keep in the refrigerator for 5 days.


Note:
This recipe was inspired by the recipe provided by My Vegan Cookbook blog but cuts the sweet ingredients back and replaces sugar with honey. 

Fontina Asparagus Pizza

My friend Lee knows I make my own pizza dough. He gave me a ball of frozen dough that he assured me would be just as light and all natural-- the same pure ingredients I use.  His came from a business associate who supplies dough to pizzerias wholesale.  Lucky pizzerias.  Prep space is limited in many restaurants and finding a quality supplier that can save the owner time and money (and space) is a good for all sides of business. 

I also saved time with the high quality frozen dough.  It defrosted leisurely in its package in the refrigerator and over 3 days went from a solid softball to a foamy square pushing into the sides of its bag.

We've had hot, hot days so turning on the oven to heat a pizza stone was out of the question.  Even taking the time to really stretch out the dough seemed too much effort in the steamy heat.  A free form pizza baked over a bed of farina (instead of cornmeal) on an extra thin cookie sheet was all that could be managed and thanks to the relaxed rise of the pizza dough, it came out perfectly. It had a crispy light crust yet was still moist and deliciously yeasty inside.  The dough was a perfect foil to the cheese and asparagus.  Omitting the sauce made for a lighter meal and let us taste and appreciate each ingredient. 

We topped our pizza with quickly steamed, then butter & olive oil-sauteed asparagus over fontina cheese.  X's formed with anchovies provided a salty balance.  If you don't love anchovies, accent this sophisticated pizza with crisped bacon, it's cousin pancetta or top with good quality prosciutto.  (If using prosciutto, wait until the pizza is out of the oven.) For an all vegetable pizza, slice a few oil cured olives and scatter over randomly.

Bake the pizza in a preheated 400˚F oven for 12-14 minutes until the dough is puffed up a bit and the bottom is light brown and sturdy.  Let the pizza rest a moment before slicing.



NOTE: High quality pizza dough has few ingredients, just like what you would put together with flour, water, salt and olive oil.  The trick is giving your dough time to rise. Be patient and go for a slow rise under refrigerated conditions in a loosely secured plastic bag to allow for expansion.  A freshly made dough will rise in about 8-12 hours and can hold for a day.  Let a frozen dough come to the ready over three days.

Seafood Stew

Seafood Stew is within your grasp this summer even if you are far from the shore.  This recipe has easy to put together, flavorful ingredients, hardly any “stewing” time and uses either freshly caught or frozen seafood.  Don't wait for vacation to enjoy. 

My recipe combines something from all the coasts I love—a little fennel and tarragon from the south of France, some saffron notes from Spain’s peninsula and our Atlantic coast's bounty of cod, clams and scallops.  Seafood Stew is a world wide thing so once you know the basics of this tomato-based soup you can swap in your local fish, garden favorites and the herbs that make you happiest.  

Seafood Stew
Serves 3, doubles well
Ingredients

1/4 sweet onion
1/2 fennel bulb
1/4 cup celery leaves
2-3 garlic cloves (plus extra for garlic bread to dunk)
Olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup tomato based vegetable juice
1 cup clam broth
1/2 cup water
6-8 threads saffron
Red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 6-oz fillet of cod, haddock or other firm white fish
1 cup bay scallops
1 cup fresh clams or shrimp (out of shell)
Salt and pepper
Fresh herb garnish: dill, tarragon, parsley

Method

1. In a large wide heavy-bottomed pot, sauté vegetables in olive oil over medium heat.   
2. When vegetables have softened, add garlic and cook stirring another minute. 
3. Add wine and stir to scrape up any caramelized pieces sticking to the bottom of the pot.  
4. Lower heat to medium-low and add tomato juice, clam broth and water.  Sprinkle in saffron and red pepper flakes. Simmer 5 minutes.  
5. Add fish and simmer 5 minutes more.  Add remaining seafood and simmer until cooked through, 2-3 minutes.  
6. Serve immediately garnished with chopped fresh herbs.  

Pass around toasts rubbed with olive oil, garlic and a smear of anchovy paste. 

Car Trip Trail Mix

A recent trip to Vermont reminded me of the pleasures of trail mix.  Yes, its great for a hike but it's also a good snack to get you through the divide between lunch and dinner when you are too busy to stop but need something that can sustain you for just a little while.  Long car trips, an extra hour at the beach, a late dinner are all good times to reach for trail mix. 

You can buy packaged trail mix on the road but making it yourself gives you complete control over the flavor, saves money and allows you to source the most pure and fresh ingredients. Who knows how long that bag of GORP has been sitting at the gas station?

The proportions are roughly 2/3 nuts and seeds to 1/3 dried fruit.   I like to have at least two types of either nuts or seeds.  Some recipes add chocolate but beware in warm conditions.  I hold off until  colder weather to include chocolate chips in my mix. 

The trail mix in the photo includes almonds, sunflowers, pepitas, dried cherries and dried apricots.  Cut large pieces of fruit with kitchen sheers rather than a knife.  Simple and less rippage.

Strawberry Shortcake Roulade

A sliceable strawberry shortcake that can stand up to refrigeration. 

The cake tastes like the freshest ladyfingers you’ve ever had and the strawberry whipped cream filling is dotted with lightly poached strawberry slices. A pure strawberry syrup adds a deep stripe of ruby red. 

The cake portion is from the jelly roll recipe in Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book (2005 and other editions).  The whipped cream is stabilized with gelatin, the method professional bakers use to help the cream stand up to refrigeration without weeping. 

This is a small cake but many standards but will satisfy 4 people with ease.  If you are serving more, rather than double the recipe, make two cakes and bake them side by side.  Flipping and rolling up the cake is easily managed in the single recipe so it’s better to make two regular ones versus one large one. 

Strawberry Shortcake Roulade
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 eggs, separated
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
(Confectioners sugar for coating dish towel)

Special Equipment
Jelly roll pan or 1/2 sheet pan with rimmed sides (15” x 10” x1”), parchment paper, small fine meshed strainer. clean kitchen towel

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375˚F. 
2. Place egg whites in a large mixing bowl and egg yolks in a medium mixing bowl.  Allow to stand at room temperature while you prepare pan and dry ingredients.  
3. Grease baking pan and line with parchment paper cut to fit inside long edge of pan and hanging over shorter ends by two inches on each side.  Grease and lightly flour parchment paper lining.  
4. Combine flour and baking powder in a small bowl. 
5. Add vanilla to egg yolks and beat with an electric mixer on high for about 5 minutes, until mixture is thick and lemon yellow in color.  Gradually add 1/3 cup sugar while continuing to beat on high.  The friction will dissolve the sugar.  The mixture is ready when you can rub a bit between your fingers and feel no sugar granules.  Set aside and wash beaters in hot soapy water to remove all egg yolk (which will prevent whites from achieving good volume).  
6. Beat egg whites with electric mixer at medium speed until soft peaks form.  Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar continuing to beat until stiff peaks form.  Stiff peaks stand up on their own when the beaters are pulled away.  They do not flop over as they do at the soft peak stage.  
7. Gently fold egg yolk mixture into egg whites.  
8. Next sprinkle flour mixture over batter and fold in until combined.  Batter will be thick.  
9. Spread batter into prepared pan.  Use a wide rubber spatula to smooth and even out batter.  
10. Bake at 375˚F for just 12-15 minutes.  The cake is done when it springs back from a light finger touch.  
11. Remove cake from oven and immediately run a knife around edge to loosen.  Lay kitchen towel down flat next to pan. Using the strainer, sprinkle an even coating of confectioners sugar on towel matching the size of the baking pan.  Flip the cake over onto the towel and peel parchment paper away.  From the short end, roll up cake in the towel and place on a rack to cool in its rolled shape.  Cool for 1 hour.   

Cake can be made a day ahead.  Cover lightly with pastic wrap.  No need to refrigerate at this stage.  Unroll cake and remove towel to add filling.  Re-roll and chill.   

Strawberry Whipped Cream Filling
Ingredients
1 teaspoon powdered gelatin
1 Tablespoon cold water
2 cups fresh or thawed strawberries
2/3 cup whipping or heavy cream
2-4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Method

1. Stir powdered gelatin into cold water.  Set aside 5 minutes.  
2. Meanwhile, hull and slice strawberries.  Microwave strawberries on medium temperature until slightly cooked and tender, about 90 seconds.  Remove and strain.  Reserve strawberry juice.  
3. Heat gelatin in  a small pan or microwave until just melted.  Remove and cool.  
4. Beat whipped cream  until beginning to thicken.  Keep beating and gradually add sugar to taste.  Add vanilla.  Stir in gelatin.  
5. Fold in strawberries, reserving a portion to use as decoration. 
6. When cake is completely cool, unroll and remove towel.  Spoon strawberry whipped cream onto cake within an inch of its edges. Gently re-roll cake and refrigerate at least an hour.   

Use a serrated knife to cut slices cleanly.  Serve cake with a syrup made from the leftover strawberry juices cooked with a few teaspoons of sugar or honey.  If there is not much juice, add a little orange juice to the mixture. 

TV Dinners in Their Purest Form

There are times when a pre-cooked meal is the best option for dinner. A family with a busy week, a smart dieter's lunch plan, a neighbor convalescing can all use something pure and good standing by in the freezer.

There are more choices that are natural and a bit more exotic than the ones we ate on TV dinner folding tables.  There are also easy ones you can put together while you are cooking dinner by doubling your recipe.  These have the advantage of simplicity, customization and minimal processing. 

The dinners pictured here were made from 4 pounded chicken breasts braised in a light broth, 2 cups of cooked rice and 2 large heads of broccoli cut in florets an lightly steamed.  The rice and chicken nestle with a bit of pan gravy and the broccoli got a squirt of soy sauce.

Cool complete in the refrigerator before freezing to prevent condensation forming.  Freeze in plastic containers to reheat in the microwave or aluminum ones to reheat in the oven (generally 325˚F for half hour).  Avoid tomato based sauces if freezing in plastic since the sauce will stain and damage the container when reheated.

Vegetarian, with a Side of Meat

There are a lot of meals that, when deconstructed, suit a wide range of eaters.  When vegetarians come to dinner, a meat-based meal is often subtracted from to create a vegetarian option.  With more of us eating as vegetarians for part of the week, it now makes more sense to turn that meal plan on its head.  Start with a vegetarian base then add a meat, chicken or fish serving to provide an omnivore protein option.

Here's a simple weeknight recipe we made recently when both vegetarians and meat cravers sat at our table.  Beans and pasta are a classic combination in Tuscan cuisine.  Don't be surprised if your meat eaters dig into the beans as well, so make plenty.  Leftover beans can be pureed with broth to make soup or mashed with more herbs, olive oil and feta or goat cheese to make dip.

Penne with Broccoli, Parmesan And...
Serves 4

Ingredients
8-10 ounces penne rigate (or other fork friendly pasta shape)
2 heads broccoli
3 tablespoons high quality extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup sliced black olives
salt
olive oil

Vegetarian option:
1 14-oz can white beans (1/2 cup per person), drained and mixed with
1/4 teaspoon dried basil, thyme or rosemary (triple amount if using fresh herbs)

Omnivore option:
3 ounces cooked chicken breast per person
1/4 teaspoon dried basil, thyme or rosemary (triple amount if using fresh herbs)

Extra Parmesan cheese, olive oil and red pepper flakes or herbs for the table

Method

1. Bring 4 quarts water to a boil.  Add 1 tablespoon salt to water.  
2. Cut broccoli into florets and toss in boiling water for 4 minutes.  
3. Remove with a slotted spoon to large, wide serving bowl.
4. Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to package directions, approximately 8-10 minutes until al dente.  
5. While pasta cooks, saute chicken or heat beans with herbs.  
6. Drain pasta and add to serving bowl. 
7. Toss pasta and broccoli with olive oil and cheese.  Add olives.
8. Serve family style in wide bowls and pass beans and chicken for diners to add as they wish.  

This post is in celebration of Brooke and Wilson who's wedding dinner will be joyfully shared by an assortment of diners.  In addition to pasta, Brooke and Wilson start their vegi-carni meals together with stir fries and pizzas to make satisfying and delicious repasts.

Tortellini en Brodo with Greens

I don’t think I’ve opened a food magazine in the past two years without seeing an article about greens.  Swiss chard, mustard greens, beet greens, collards, spinach and more.  These leafy edibles are current darlings of the culinary world and come by their accolades honestly—high in nutrition and fiber, low in calories.  You can even forage for some of them in urban areas and this fact alone makes them absolute stars in the culinary universe.  

The trouble with being the food media’s current fascination is the eventual backlash and ennui.  Soon writers will move on to another super food and greens could be left on the shelf, growing more bitter with each passing month out of the spotlight and off magazine covers. 

While their moment in the sun may soon be over, there are those of us who will always have them in our back pocket to add to stews and soups, omelets and gratins.  We’ve been filing away some of the newer recipe ideas for a rainy day. 

What does any of this have to do with the simple classic soup tortellini en brodo (stuffed pasta in broth)?  Greens may be the only thing you can add that won’t overpower the delicate balance of this hydrating comfort meal. 

Traditionally a dish for cold dark nights, even when the weather gets warmer a handful of cheese tortellini cooked in homemade chicken broth is restorative.  Try it after a day riding surf at the beach, a few sets of tennis or a backcountry bike ride when your muscles are sore and a little chilled. 

Toss a large handful of rinsed baby spinach leaves into the bubbling broth when the tortellini are cooked and just before serving. You have something that no energy drink could ever compete with.

Note: You can make this soup with canned broth but if you've never made homemade chicken broth, this is the recipe that deserves it.  See this blog's entry for November 27, 2009, What's Next, to learn how to make a broth from roasted poultry.

Chick Pea Salad for Picnics

Here’s a weekend bean salad for summer inspired by a pasta salad I saw at my local deli.  The base is chick peas (aka garbanzo beans) in a tomato-based vinaigrette that can be changed up to suit your refrigerator’s or garden’s bounty.

Just abut any recipe for macaroni or pasta salad can be updated and given a jolt of fiber by substituting beans for all or part of the pasta. 

This weekend I add steamed sliced zucchini, but you can also toss in green beans, fresh peas, zucchini blossoms or tiny cooked potatoes from your garden.  Fresh chopped herbs like basil, Italian parsley or dill are also great additions. 

Chick Pea Salad
Serves 6 –8 as a side dish
Ingredients
2 cups cooked or canned chick peas (about a 14 oz can)
1/2 green bell pepper, minced
1 zucchini, steamed whole then sliced in half moons
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 small celery stalk, sliced
1/4 cup chopped black olives
3 scallions, chopped up to green part
3/4 cup tomato juice
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard powder
Salt & pepper
Optional: hot sauce

Method

1. Drain the chick peas if canned.  
2. In a medium bowl, toss beans with remaining ingredients.  
3. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour before serving. 

Mushroom Salisbury Steaks

Just because a dish has become a TV dinner classic, doesn’t mean it can’t be tuned up for a family meal that qualifies for greatness with pure and fresh ingredients.  Mushroom Salisbury Steaks are a little more than hamburgers and a little faster than meatloaf but satisfy like both.  This is also a meal stretcher.  The bread crumbs in the patties not only extend the portions, they keep the patties light and moist.  The ‘steaks’ are browned in a skillet then finished in a hearty mushroom gravy in the same pan. 

Mushroom Salisbury Steaks
Serves 4
Ingredients

Steak patties
2 lb lean ground beef (90% lean)
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon each dried basil and thyme
1 egg
1t Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoon oil (for browning)

Mushroom Gravy
1/2 lb sliced mushrooms
1 T butter
1 T flour
1 14-oz can beef broth
2T ketchup
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 T molasses
1 14-oz can chicken broth
2t+ Worcestershire sauce
salt & black pepper
(If needed to thicken sauce further: 2 t cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup cold water or cold broth)

Method

1. Mix ground beef, bread crumbs, egg and Worcestershire sauce together.  Form into 4-6 oblong-shaped patties.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set aside while making gravy.
2. In a large skillet, sauté mushrooms in butter.  Add flour and brown over low heat.  Deglaze with 1 cup broth.  
3. Finish making gravy by slowly adding remainder of broth, ketchup, mustard and molasses.  Season with Worcestershire sauce, salt and black pepper to taste.   Remove mushroom gravy from skillet and set aside.  
4. Wipe skillet out and add 2 teaspoons oil.  Brown patties, 3 minutes each side in a bit of butter or olive oil. 
5.  Return gravy to skillet and cook patties 10-12 minutes until cooked through.  If gravy seems a bit thin, add cornstarch in cold liquid and simmer an additional 2 minutes.  

Serve with noodles or mashed potatoes.
You probably won’t have leftovers, but if you do, this meal freezes well.  Just like a classic TV dinner should. Store Salisbury Steaks in the type of container you will reheat them in.  For a microwave safe container, reheat on medium power to 6 minutes, then on high for an additional minute.  If reheating in an oven, store in a glass or metal pan and reheat, loosely covered, in a preheated 350˚F oven 35-45 minutes.


NOTE: Dr. J.H. Salisbury, who pressed Americans to eat leaner meats during the 19th century, is credited with inventing this dish.  His was a simple lean meat patty, broiled under a moderate flame and served with condiments like Worcestershire sauce, horseradish, lemon juice or mustard.

Grandma's Roast Duck

A 4-5 pound duck will serve 4 people when served with a hearty serving of vegetables.

At no time is it more obvious to me that my mother’s side of the family is from eastern Europe than when duck is being discussed.  Most of my friends know duck only from Chinese restaurants where the crisped skin and tender meat is nestled into pancakes with plum sauce and scallions.  I love that both Chinese and Czech cuisines know how to coax out the fat from beneath the skin to cook up a dichotomous meal of juicy meat under brittle crisp skin.  

Every culture that celebrates duck has identified its local flavor counterpart.  Plum sauce and scallion cut through the unctuous tones of the meat in Asian cuisine.  The French have found that oranges do the trick as in Duck a l’Orange.  Tart cherries make me think of German or Austrian preparations.  Czech tradition calls for saurkraut cooked with onions and potatoes to accompany the bold meat. 

I recently used my grandmother’s recipe for roast duck that I had transcribed from her directions to me when we cooked duck together in the early 1980s.  I’ve updated it with a few tricks to help prepare the skin but her method remains simple and successful.  Next time you see fresh duck at the store, try her recipe.  She used a very sharp carving fork to pierce the skin while the bird roasts, releasing the fat to render a crispy skin.  I use a well-sharpened knife to do the deed.  The sharpness helps pierce the skin just to the fat strata so you do not pierce the meat.

If saurkraut is not your thing, place vegetables like quartered potatoes and carrot chunks at the bottom of the roasting pan for the last 1/2 hour.  This step adds some humidity and helps keep the meat tender while the skin continues to crisp.  Serve the duck with a tart fruit sauce made from dried cherries, marmalade and lemon for balance.

My grandmother would use the carcass and any leftovers to make duck soup.  I make a brie and duck panini with cherry-apricot relish.  The duck carcass joins chicken bones in my freezer for a future poultry stock.

Grandma’s Roast Duck
Serves 2-4, recipe is easily doubled. Roast birds side by side in a large roasting pan. 
1 4-5 pound fresh duck
2 stalks celery, halved
1 onion, quartered
parsley
1/2 small orange or tangerine
salt and pepper
1 cup boiling water

Sides: Prepared and rinsed saurkraut, par-boiled potatoes quarters, sliced onion or potatoes and carrots chunks, parboiled. 

Method

1. Remove duck from packaging and wipe inside and out with paper towels to dry off skin and meat.  Optional: place duck on a rack and refrigerate uncovered 24 hours to dry out skin.    
2. Preheat oven to 350˚F.  Spray a roasting rack with spray oil to prevent sticking.  Salt and pepper inside and out of bird.  Place onion, celery, parsley and orange in cavity of duck.  
3. Using a very sharp knife, score the breast skin just to the fat level in 4 1-inch slits on each breast.  Lightly pierce the thigh skin  also.  
4. Pour boiling water over duck, especially the breast area and let water drain into bottom of roasting pan.  Roast with water in the pan at 350˚F for 1 hour.  Periodically, repierce skin with knife to release fat into bottom of pan.
5. Check bird with a thermometer.  Your ultimate goal is 170˚F.  After one hour, the bird should read about 110-130˚F.  Once it reaches 130˚F, remove bird from oven and place bird with rack on a platter.  
6. Drain duck fat into a dish to keep for later use*. Leave a tablespoon or two in the pan.  
7. Toss together rinsed saurkraut, parboiled potato quarters and onion and place in the roasting pan.  Stir to coat vegetables with some duck fat.  
8. Take duck off roasting rack and place it directly over the vegetables in the roasting pan.  Return duck to oven and roast an additional 1/2 hour or more until internal temperature of breast meat reaches170˚F.  
9. Remove duck from oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes.  Discard vegetables from cavity.  Use kitchen sheers to cut duck in quarters to serve with potatoes and saurkraut. 

*Duck fat can be used to saute potatoes and other vegetables.  It is very good with cabbage for example and can also be frozen for the day you are tempted to make liver pate. 

And here are my grandmother’s verbatim instructions for handling duck.  She did not use a roasting rack:
"In a roasting pan, place bird with a large onion, celery, parsley, caraway inside cavity.  Put a large glass of water in bottom of pan to stop sticking.  Cook for 1 1/2 hours at 350˚F.  Pierce skin frequently to release fat.  Serve with potatoes and saurkraut.  To make saurkraut, rinse it, then heat it up with some onion, and sugar maybe.”