Thursday, April 28, 2011

Roast Duck

I served duck, ham, and lamb at my Easter dinner.  A couple of my guests asked how I prepare my duck so it's not greasy.  That's a question I often get, so I thought I'd share it with all of you.  Here's how you get a perfectly roasted, non-greasy duck(or goose, for that matter.)

Start by removing the neck, giblets, and whatever else might be inside your duck.  Put those things in a large stock pot of water and bring it up to a simmer.

Wrangle the wing tips behind the bird, and with the point of a knife, stab it all over.  Go nuts.  Make sure to flip the duck over and stab the backside, too.  Really get all serial killery on the bird.  This will help to render the fat out on the next step.

 Drop your stabbed bird in the simmering pot neck down.  Fat floats.  It'll want to float.  Just push it down and put the lid on.  Let it simmer for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, pull the bird out of the water and let it sit for 45 minutes.  This'll give it's skin time to tighten up.

In the meantime I preheated the oven to 450 and prepared the glaze.  I heated up 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup champagne vinegar, 1/2 cup apricot mango preserves, 1 tbsp San-J gluten-free soy sauce, and 1 1/2 tbsps red pepper flakes.  For a more traditional orange duck, use marmalade instead of the preserves.  Reserve half the sauce for serving with the bird. 

Brush the sauce all over the duck.  I like to start the bird roasting back side up for 25 minutes, then flip it over breast side up for another 25-30 minutes, basting again when I pull it out of the oven to flip it.  A goose would take slightly longer with slightly more glaze.  Perfectly roasted water fowl every time.

The thing about water fowl, is that they're naturally so fatty and juicy that you really can't overcook them.  It would take effort to dry one out.  I took a cleaver to what was left after Easter dinner, and heated up in a 425 toaster oven for 10 minutes, those bits are better than any $13 chinese take-out duck.

Thanks for popping in and cooking with me.  I'm linking this up to Gluten-Free Homemaker's Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Prairie Story's Recipe Swap Thursday, Just a Girl's Show and Share Day, and Life as Mom's Ultimate Recipe Swap.
Miz Helen’s Country CottageHunk of Meat Mondays

14 comments:

  1. This is such a great post! I'm so glad you shared this recipe. The hubby loves eating roast duck but it always turns out so greasy!!I'm going to follow your step by step method and give it a try next time. Wish me luck!Congrats on being featured at Boogieboard Cottage! That clock was an ingenious idea, loved it!~Poppy

    http://withadashofcolor.blogspot.com/

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  2. I am super impressed with your culinary skills. I don't eat meat but would love to show off for friends with a nice duck. Thanks for the recipe!

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  3. I have only had a couple bites of duck in my whole life when a friend took Hubby duck hunting and sent him home with a breast to fix on the bbq grill. But this makes preparing one look so easy and yummy, I may have to find a whole one to roast!

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  4. I really want to try this. My husband would love it.

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  5. I never had duck..this looks great!

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  6. I haven't had duck in ages. I did not do such a good job but you surely did. It looks tasty and delicious.

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  7. You have been tagged for some Mothers' Day fun. Come over and see what is going on.

    http://comfycookc.blogspot.com/2011/04/mothers-day-tag-menu.html

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  8. Wow - you have quite the meat filled Easter!! :) We are Italian so we like to eat pasta with every freaking holiday...and lots of it! These ares some good tips for the duck. Thanks for linking up to Foodie Friday. I hope to see you again next week!!

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  9. Thanks for sharing the tips on how to cook a duck. I've never cooked duck before, I will have to put that on my bucket list for the kitchen :)

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  10. This is a great photo tutorial on cooking a duck and it looks so delicious! Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you next week!

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  11. So, duck is a new love of mine to make. I love dark meat poultry so nothing is better than duck in my mind. This recipe sounds superb. Come on over and link it up to Hunk of Meat Monday.

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  12. what an amazing beautiful duck you did a great job thanks for sharing how it was done come see me at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

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  13. Congratulations,
    You are featured on Full Plate Thursday this week, enjoy!
    Miz Helen

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