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On a recent stopover in Paris I bought Magret de Canard, duck breasts, from Picard a French frozen foods chain. This mornings breakfast is the result of some of the creations from these duck breasts. The Duck Bacon was made using a commercial smoked bacon cure from Sausagemaking.org. The sausages are the result of some experimentation in the kitchen at home. Normally when making sausages from poultry or game it is necessary to use the dark meat from the legs and some skin as these both contain sufficient of the proteins which when worked in the forcemeat bind the sausage. My first attempt using just the duck breasts were a little dry and soft. These second sausages are much firmer and more juicy and hold together well. This resulted from using a small quantity of dried non-fat milk powder, these sausages are very simple to make and very very tasty.

Ingredients:

1 kilo of duck breast, meat, fat and skin, diced and chilled
1 1/2 tsp's of Coarse Salt
1 1/2 tsp's of Chinese Five Spice powder
1 spring onion, chopped
2 tsp's freshly grated ginger
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
1/2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
3 tbs's of non-fat milk powder
sufficient shaved ice or chilled water to provide a soft texture, approx 1/4 cup of liquid
sheep casing

Directions:

Mix the salt, five spice powder, spring onion, black pepper, garlic and grated ginger with the diced duck breast, place in the freezer to chill.
Grind the meat and seasonings through the medium plate of you grinder, replace in the freezer.
Using a food mixer with beater blade, work the forcemeat with the added shaved ice or chilled water for approximately three minutes, add the milk powder and work for another minute until all is incorporated and the forcemeat becomes a sticky homogenous mass.
Stuff the forcemeat into the sheep casings and place in the refrigerator overnight for the flavours to develop.
Cook, serve and enjoy.

These sausages are very finely textured due to the tenderness of the duck breast, despite being ground on a medium disk, if a hotdog type sausage is desired it should be possible to finely grind and increase the milk powder content, then poach in water prior to grilling or frying.