Duck Fat: Better Than Butter

About author / Amy Powell

World traveler; gourmet 30 minute meals; lover of exotic ingredients; winner on FoodTV's Chefs vs City; graduate French Culinary Institute. Her recipes will tantalize your taste buds.

Years from now, long after I have stopped working for my present employer, if my boss remembers one thing about me it will be these four words: duck fat French fries. Our first full day working together, the subject of my love of cooking came up. Like many people do when they learn I am a cook, my boss asked me what my favorite foods are. I told her that I am a true omnivore; I eat just about everything… with the exception of potatoes. But even that rule I’ll make an exception for on one condition: that the potatoes come fried in duck fat.

At the time I am fairly certain my boss thought I was crazy. I explained how I had never met a potato I liked until one day in culinary school we were instructed to fry our potatoes in the reserved drippings of the seared duck breasts we had just prepared. The cooled duck fat, now partially solidified into something resembling a dark Crisco, melted into a clear puddle the moment the dollop hit my hot frying pan. Cubes of Yukon gold potatoes met the fat in the pan along with sea salt and coarse ground pepper. Several minutes passed tossing the potatoes with our practiced flip of the wrist until those cubes achieved a perfect golden brown on all sides.

Despite my professed dislike of all things potato, what I had in my mouth that day was truly a potato revelation: it was like a normal fried potato but with the richness of butter and an unidentifiable meatiness, making the finished product by far the best potato that I had ever had.

In the four years since I surprised my boss by telling her how I only like potatoes cooked in duck fat, animal fats, especially duck fat, are experiencing popularity not seen since our great grandmothers would keep bacon drippings in a mason jar. This popularity has as much to do with health as it does with taste. Ten to twenty years ago we were told to shun tasty but artery clogging butter and use margarine instead because of margarine’s lower saturated fat. When the evils of trans fats were discovered, margarine was out and olive oil with its heart healthy monounsaturated fats was in. The problem with olive oil is its low smoke point, which means any attempt to fry potatoes in it would result in little more than burnt oil. This left us with canola and peanut oil: the flavorless, high smoke point, heart healthy vegetable oils perfect for frying but without any of the flavor of butter or olive oil.

So it has been, potatoes fried in flavorless vegetable oil, until one day someone had the bright idea that instead of throwing away those bacon and duck fat drippings, maybe we could actually cook with them. On closer analysis it turns out that the duck fat, with all its depth of flavor, is actually lower in saturated fat than butter. With 14 grams of monounsaturated fat per serving, versus 5 grams in butter, it is actually a good source of heart healthy fats too. Add the equation that duck fat has a high smoke point, perfect for frying potatoes, and you have a recipe for a delicious way to make use of something you might otherwise have tossed into the trash.

Using drippings from cooking duck is a simple process. When cooking duck breasts or legs, do so with the duck skin side down allowing the fat to render slowly over a medium low flame. Periodically pour the fat off during the cooking so as not to deep fry the duck. When all the fat has rendered and been poured off and before it has cooled completely, strain the drippings through some cheesecloth to remove any browned bits. Transfer the drippings to a clean mason jar and keep in the refrigerator to use for cooking anything that might call for butter, such as cornbread, or items looking for a pan fry over a high flame such as stir fried vegetables or potatoes.

Four years ago may have been the first time my boss had heard of frying potatoes in duck fat, but now that she sees restaurants proudly advertising “Duck Fat Fries” and magazine articles on “Making the most of your Drippings” she has happily incorporated the delicious fat into her diet as well. In a move that would make a grandmother proud of your frugality, your daughter proud of your healthy eating habits, and your mouth just, well, happy, make some duck, save the drippings and you might even learn to like the humble potato a little bit more.

Serves/Makes: 2

• 2 small duck breast
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 8 fingerling potatoes
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 teaspoon butter