I've never made duckling before. After reading the archives and a few
recipe sites, I think this is what I'll do:

Thaw the duck. It's 5.8 lbs, farmed, I believe, bought at the local
grocery.

Rinse the duck, remove innards, pat dry, and leave to dry overnight in
the fridge. (Not sure what this accomplishes)

Rub with salt inside and out. Pierce skin.

Place in a roasting pan with some onion, carrot, and celery cut up in
the bottom. Stuff some fruit in the duck, probably a peach.

Roast in a hot oven (400F) for 20-25 minutes per pound, or until
internal temperature reaches 180F and juices at the thigh run clear.

Remove duck from heat and allow it to rest 10 minutes. Skim fat out of
the pan juices and make gravy/sauce from the drippings.

How's that sound so far?

I'm planning to serve roasted winter vegetables alongside (cubed
potatoes, carrot, pumpkin seasoned with herbs) and one of our bachelor
friends will bring lettuce for a salad. I could use some suggestions for
an appropriate salad dressing.

For dessert, I'm thinking fresh fruit and cheese, or maybe some vanilla
ice cream.

I'm open to comments, corrections, or suggestions.


Dawn

In article >, d-
says...
> I've never made duckling before. After reading the archives and a few
> recipe sites, I think this is what I'll do:
>
> Thaw the duck. It's 5.8 lbs, farmed, I believe, bought at the local
> grocery.
>
> Rinse the duck, remove innards, pat dry, and leave to dry overnight in
> the fridge. (Not sure what this accomplishes)
>
> Rub with salt inside and out. Pierce skin.
>
> Place in a roasting pan with some onion, carrot, and celery cut up in
> the bottom. Stuff some fruit in the duck, probably a peach.
>
> Roast in a hot oven (400F) for 20-25 minutes per pound, or until
> internal temperature reaches 180F and juices at the thigh run clear.
>
> Remove duck from heat and allow it to rest 10 minutes. Skim fat out of
> the pan juices and make gravy/sauce from the drippings.
>
> How's that sound so far?
>
> I'm planning to serve roasted winter vegetables alongside (cubed
> potatoes, carrot, pumpkin seasoned with herbs) and one of our bachelor
> friends will bring lettuce for a salad. I could use some suggestions for
> an appropriate salad dressing.
>
> For dessert, I'm thinking fresh fruit and cheese, or maybe some vanilla
> ice cream.
>
> I'm open to comments, corrections, or suggestions.
>


Sounds good! The drying in the fridge helps you get crispy skin, one of
the main attractions of duck. But 180 is a bit high. Duck can be served
pink in the center, and 180 is beyond that. I would shoot for 165 in the
thigh.

You might not want to add the onion etc to the pan from the beginning -
it might get overdone and burned. Add about 1/2 way thru cooking.

I think wild rice goes well with game birds.

Sounds like a great dinner!


--
Peter Aitken
Visit my recipe and kitchen myths pages at www.pgacon.com/cooking.htm

Dawn wrote:
>
> I'm open to comments, corrections, or suggestions.


A F L A C !

Dawn wrote on 25 Sep 2006 in rec.food.cooking

> How's that sound so far?
>

I'd raise the duck up outa the pan juices on a rack.

In article >,
Mr Libido Incognito > wrote:

> I'd raise the duck up outa the pan juices on a rack.

So would I. The tastiest part of a domestic duck is the skin properly
crisped and seasoned. Soaking in juice doesn't promote that. Nor does
the moisture from vegetables cooking at the same time in the oven.
I'll also second the wild rice suggestion.
Wild duck skin, on the other hand, ranges from mildly offensive to awful
and shouldn't be catered to.

leo

--
<http://web0.greatbasin.net/~leo/>

A few years back, I had a friend who had a duck hunting husband. She
was gifted at cooking those wild ducks.

One of the things that she did that made her ducks so special - she
made a sauce from Currant jelly, Worstershire Sauce, and a little red
wine. She continually basted the duck while it was roasting.

I recall her roasting the duck at high temperature, in the beginning,
and then turning it down.

The secret was definitely in the sauce.

Myrl Jeffcoat
http://www.myrljeffcoat.com

In article . com>,
wrote:

> A few years back, I had a friend who had a duck hunting husband. She
> was gifted at cooking those wild ducks.
<snip>
> The secret was definitely in the sauce.

When I was a kid, our wild ducks were cooked in a 300 F degree oven for
three hours after being stuffed with apple, celery and onions tightly
wrapped in aluminum foil. I have tried many recipes since.
I now cook them as I liked them when I was a kid. I eat eight to ten a
year. My wife won't touch them. I have recently started dipping cooked
pieces in hot apricot jam. Not bad. It's not a sauce though.

leo

--
<http://web0.greatbasin.net/~leo/>