Roasted Duck With Apples

Recreating classic scenes from books or movies always brings out my fantasies of being a domestic goddess. I absolutely love hosting dinners at our home. When we were house hunting this spring, a large dining room was one of our top priorities, since we both love to have company. I have been daydreaming of carrying out  a golden brown bird perched on a platter since I first started reading those touching, poetic scenes in century old novels. Holiday dinners are a wonderful excuse to cook up elaborate meals and pamper family and friends with tasty bites. Coming up with a menu is both challenging and fun. Just like the “little black dress”, roasting poultry is usually a great choice, since it’s is always classy and elegant.

We have our usual suspects, chicken and turkey, but there’s also other birds to consider. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the duck. If you read any Russian literature, you will notice a theme of duck or goose making an appearance on special occasions. Even classic English novels feature these exceptional birds. They are just as momentous on a holiday table, but more exotic and extraordinary. Probably because they aren’t something you see very often. Back in the day, they were much more commonly grown in farmyards or brought back from successful hunting expeditions when that was the way of life. Now, we are much more familiar with chickens and turkeys. Actually, many people don’t even know where to look for a duck in the local grocery store. Even though roasting a whole bird is almost symbolic to being a successful homemaker, it’s also much easier than it seems and requires very little work and just a little know-how.

Roasted duck stuffed with apples is a characteristic Russian dish and I can completely understand why both go hand in hand. The apples infuse the duck meat with their sweet, delicate flavor and tame the slightly gamey flavor that can be a little overpowering for some people. You can even bake some extra apples to serve on the side with the duck. Duck isn’t something to shy away from. With my step by step encouragement and detailed instructions, you too can have a Norman Rockwell moment with your next dinner guests.

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 duck (approximately 6 lbs)
• 2-3 apples
• 1 small onion
• 4-6 garlic cloves
• salt, pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Duck has a lot more fat than other poultry, like chicken or turkey. To create a really crisp skinned duck, we will need to render as much of the fat out of the duck as possible.
Prick the duck all over the breast and in all the fat pockets with a wooden skewer, a fork or a paring knife. Try to poke just through the fat, not all the way to the meat. Pricking the fat will help the fat to escape better as it is cooking.
Trim off all the excess skin and fat on the duck. Pat the duck dry with paper towels. Season the duck with salt and pepper all over the surface of the duck and also inside the inner cavity.
Cut the apples, onion and garlic cloves into sections and place them into the cavity of the duck. You can also add herbs, cranberries, lemon or orange and also dry fruit, such as prunes, apricots, raisins, etc. As the duck is roasting, all these aromatic fruits, vegetables and herbs will give an incredible flavor to the meat. The apples are especially delicious. The combination of roasting duck with the apples, onions and garlic is an aroma that will make your mouth water while you wait patiently for the duck to cook through.
Tuck the wing tips behind the back of the duck and tie the drumsticks together with kitchen twine.
Place the duck in a roasting pan on top of a rack. Pour enough water to cover the bottom of the roasting pan. Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil, or if you happen to have a roasting pan with a cover, use it. The water will prevent the duck fat from burning on the bottom of the pan and also will create a steaming effect while the duck is being roasted covered. This is another way to draw out the fat from under the skin of the duck.
Roast the duck, covered, for about 45 minutes.
Uncover, increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and roast for another 30 minutes.
Increase the heat to 475-500 degrees Fahrenheit and roast for another 10-15 minutes, just until the skin is golden and crisp and the duck registers 175-180 degrees Fahrenheit in the thickest part of the thigh.
Skim off the gorgeous duck fat from the roasting pan and save it to use for frying potatoes. Duck fat is incredibly flavorful.
Let the duck rest for 10-15 minutes before carving it. Discard the aromatics that you used to stuff the cavity of the duck. Their main job was to flavor the meat of the duck. Usually, they will need a bit more time to be cooked to a proper temperature and by that time, the duck meat will be very dry and overcooked.

Source:

http://www.olgasflavorfactory.com/main-course/poultry/duck/