Could you please post the recipe for the duck and mushroom soup? I once had duck and black mushrooms in a Chinese restaurant that closed as they so often eventually do, and it was so delicious but I don't remember what else was in it.
I've had bad luck with ducks, bought a frozen one and it had a couple strings of meat and nothing but fat. How do you pick a quality duck? Please don't tell me to go buy one from a farmer.
If you have an Aldi in your neighborhood, they sell ducklings (for about 60 percent of everybody else’s price) from November to January. I’ve never actually cooked a mature duck because the ducklings from Aldi are such a good deal. :) I buy as many as the budget will allow and keep them frozen to roast when we need a treat. They’re usually sold as Pekin ducks. A good Asian market might have them as well.
I don’t exactly do recipes for soup - I’m a throw-it-in kind of cook - but treated about like chicken soup it works pretty well; pick the duck as clean as possible and boil the bones to start your soup broth. Cook some mushrooms and chopped onions in butter or duck fat (SAVE YOUR DUCK FAT, IT IS WONDERFUL), then add them to the broth along with your chopped duck meat. Add white wine as needed for a good chicken-soup-like consistency. Tossing in some cooked brown or wild rice is nice but not mandatory; the mushrooms are mandatory. :) They complement the duck flavor beautifully.
Red lentils do have to soak as far as I can remember - it’s been a while since I cooked with them. I like my lentils tender but whole for texture. For lentils, I saute mushrooms, onion, and garlic in duck fat (seriously, save your duck fat) and then simmer a pound of lentils in half-and-half water and white wine for a couple of hours till they’re tender. A bay leaf or two is also helpful.