From Our Kitchen: Duck Dumplings in Two Styles

From Our Kitchen: This was our first attempt at no waste cooking. We made Asian duck dumplings in two styles -- Duck Dumpling Soup with home made duck stock and Pan-Fried Duck Dumplings.

We boned a fresh whole duck reserving the meat for the dumpling filling. We then roasted the bones and carcass for the stock.

Next we sauteed scallions, white onion, shitake mushrooms, garlic and carrot in a pan then added the roasted bones and water to the softened vegetables and simmered for 3 hours.

While the stock simmered on the stove, we ground the reserved duck meat and added toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, soy sauce, parsley, shitake mushrooms, ginger and garlic. We then placed a small amount into wonton wrappers, and formed into dumplings.

Finally, we added half of the dumplings to the finished duck stock with scallions, ginger, and garlic. We pan-fried the second half and served with dumpling sauce and plum sauce.

Within a couple of lazy Sunday hours, we turned a few simple and fresh ingredients into a wonderfully delicious and complex meal. As much as we love to eat out, sometimes the best dishes in Boston cannot compete with the feeling evoked by creating your own recipe and knowing where every ingredient on your plate came from. We made the purchase of a whole duck justifable by using every bit for this meal: the meat for the dumplings and the bones for the stock. We froze the skin and fat to render to fry potatoes and saved the liver to make a pate or mousse.