Duck Neck Sausage. Credit: Jim Sullivan
Duck necks: 4
Kosher salt: 1 tbsp + extra
Duck leg meat: 1 lb
Pork fatback: 6 oz
Freshly ground black pepper: 1 tsp
Curing salt #1: 1/4 tsp
Madeira: 3 oz
Shallots: 1/4 cup (minced)
Candied green walnuts: 2 oz (diced)
Schmaltz or duck fat: 2 tbsp
TO SERVE
Apples (I love Honeycrisp, Fuji, and Pink Lady): 3 (cored and cut into 1-inch pieces)
Lemon: 1 (halved)
Toasted walnuts: 1 oz (chopped)
Kosher salt: to taste
Flaky sea salt: optional
Excerpted from On Meat, Copyright © 2025 by Jeremy Fox. Published by Phaidon Press Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
At the restaurants, we process a lot of whole ducks and are left with all of the bits. Not everything can be used to make confit or stock. At first, I stuffed the necks with mortadella (which works great if you want to go rogue here), but then I settled on this stuffing made from our leg trim and Birdie G’s house-made candied green walnuts. This is one of those projects that’s going to give you a lot of confidence and, I hope, get your creative juices flowing. Once you nail the method, you’ll realize you can do all sorts of things within these parameters. If the accompanying apples and walnuts evoke Passover charoset vibes, that is by design.
- First, remove the skin in one piece from one of the duck necks. To do this, turn the skin inside-out at one end and roll it down the neck, removing it. You’ll want a firm grip, but not so firm that you tear the skin. You should be left with a hollow-sock-without-the-foot situation. A leg warmer if you will. Save the inside of the neck for your next stock. Repeat with the remaining 3 necks.
- Soak the neck skins overnight in a solution made with 6 percent kosher salt and water.
- The next morning, remove the necks from the brine and discard the brine.
- Dry the neck skins well on paper or kitchen towels.
- Set up your meat grinder (see page 30) and grind (mince) together the duck leg meat and the pork fatback using a 3/16-inch (4 mm) plate.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground mixture with the 1 tablespoon kosher salt, white pepper, curing salt, madeira, shallots, and candied green walnuts.
- With a wooden spoon, mix well to combine.
- Divide the sausage mixture into 4 equal portions, one for each neck skin.
- To fill, tie off one end of the skin with butcher’s twine.
- With a spoon or your hands, stuff one portion of the meat mixture into the skin. Really pack it in; we don’t want air holes.
- Tie off the other end.
- Repeat with the remaining skins and filling.
- Now, roll each neck tightly in plastic wrap (clingfilm).
- Still wrapped in plastic, poach the sausages in a pot of 180°F (82°C) water to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C).
- Once the sausages reach this temp, remove them immediately and shock them in ice water for 30 minutes.
- Remove the plastic wrap from each neck and any gelled stock or rendered fat from the skin.
- You can usually pop it off like melted candle wax. If not, try pouring a little warm water to loosen.
- Dry by rolling in paper or kitchen towels.
- In a cast-iron skillet on medium-high heat, heat the schmaltz.
- Add the poached sausages and cook, rolling them in the pan to achieve even browning, until each link once again reaches an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) and is nicely browned and crispy on all sides.
