Best price for duck? (buy, shop, Whole Foods)

[Stagemomma]

The chef has decided upon duck for Thanksgiving with ginger apricot sauce and wild rice stuffing. Yum!

So where can we buy a duck for a decent price? He saw at Harris Teeter they were like $7 per pound. He wants to check Whole Foods but surely there is another option.......

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by Stagemomma

The chef has decided upon duck for Thanksgiving with ginger apricot sauce and wild rice stuffing. Yum!

So where can we buy a duck for a decent price? He saw at Harris Teeter they were like $7 per pound. He wants to check Whole Foods but surely there is another option.......

Are you near an Asian or Chinese food store? EG, the Grand Asia Market on Buck Jones Road says it has duck.

I once thought about duck for Thanksgiving, but did not want to pay the HT price.

[Stagemomma]

Good idea! Thanks! I will investigate.

[Jkgourmet]

Grand Asia FOR SURE. Frozen ducks from several different companies and varieties. Best of all, they havecFRESH ducks. About $4-5/lb??? But be warned: when you release these guys from they plastic wrap and Styrofoam, you'll find the neck, head and feet neatly planted under the body. It was a bit of a shock for me the first time I bought one.

However, I closed my eyes, cutoff the head straight into the garbage, saved the neck and feet in a big baggie. Also in the baggie was any big lumps of fat that i pulled off the uncooked duck. Cooked the duck (delicious and not too fatty, very clean tasting meat).

Leftovers from the first dinner are used for duck tacos, duck stir fry, duck lo mein, duck sandwiches etc.

then I took the carcass and bones and broke the big bones with a mallet. The bones, carcass and contents of the baggie went in the stock pot. Nothing else except water! Simmer for a couple of hours, then strain the solids. Into the fridge, then skim off the duck fat when it's totally separated. That duck fat is gold. On potatoes, in pate, etc and can be frozen for future use.

Now, the duck broth becomes soup. And those nasty looking duck feet and marrow from the broken bones added tons of flavor! Can be frozen at this point. Try a recipe that sounds good to you, but Duck noodle soup is wonderful.

So, 3 meals for two big eaters from one duck PLUS that duck fat.

[don6170]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

Are you near an Asian or Chinese food store?

Maybe you can find one that is smiling.

Christmas Story: Smiling at me scene - YouTube

[Stagemomma]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Grand Asia FOR SURE. Frozen ducks from several different companies and varieties. Best of all, they havecFRESH ducks. About $4-5/lb??? But be warned: when you release these guys from they plastic wrap and Styrofoam, you'll find the neck, head and feet neatly planted under the body. It was a bit of a shock for me the first time I bought one.

However, I closed my eyes, cutoff the head straight into the garbage, saved the neck and feet in a big baggie. Also in the baggie was any big lumps of fat that i pulled off the uncooked duck. Cooked the duck (delicious and not too fatty, very clean tasting meat).

Leftovers from the first dinner are used for duck tacos, duck stir fry, duck lo mein, duck sandwiches etc.

then I took the carcass and bones and broke the big bones with a mallet. The bones, carcass and contents of the baggie went in the stock pot. Nothing else except water! Simmer for a couple of hours, then strain the solids. Into the fridge, then skim off the duck fat when it's totally separated. That duck fat is gold. On potatoes, in pate, etc and can be frozen for future use.

Now, the duck broth becomes soup. And those nasty looking duck feet and marrow from the broken bones added tons of flavor! Can be frozen at this point. Try a recipe that sounds good to you, but Duck noodle soup is wonderful.

So, 3 meals for two big eaters from one duck PLUS that duck fat.

OMG I can't believe I didn't read this before we went shopping!

Grand Asia Market was super cool and I want to go back soon. They have so many unusual things (yes, some of them are totally gross! It is hard to imagine how hungry you would have to be to have some of that stuff become part of your food culture). So the fresh duck was $3.59 a pound and we bought a 5 lb duck.

sure enough, when the chef took it out of the wrap, exactly as you described, he shrieked like a girl.

He was annoyed that we paid $3.59 for a pound of head and feet that no one is going to eat. He will never go back to Grand Asia Market again. He is no claiming that the duck at HT was the same price (although it was frozen).

The 4 pounds of duck that remained were cooked to perfection and were DELICIOUS and between the two of us there were no leftovers to be had.

AND I forwarded the Christmas Story duck clip to him. Thanks!!!