Duck

noby

So we're considering duck for Christmas dinner (with two of us and three smallies a turkey would be a bit much).
I'm hoping to do a trial one this Sunday, so please fire out your suggestions/recipes.

P. Breathnach

No recipe, but a word of caution. There is a big difference between a duck and a duckling, and it is usually duckling that you find on sale. One duckling is enough for two adults with average appetites.

I am coming around to the view that there is no good way to cook a whole duck. The breast needs little cooking, and the legs do best with long slow process. And it is hell to carve.

Alun

I agree. Duck breasts are the only way to go.

Beerlao

duck breasts not really a christmas dinner though. it has to be a roast in my opinion... not pan-fried something. a duck really won't be big enough cos let's face it, you want a big feed on christmas day, not a normal monday-night sized portion

you could try something bigger like a goose?

DadaKopf

I think you're all exaggerating about duck. It does take a bit more effort than turkey, but I personally find turkey too dry (most dinners I've been to, it's overcooked and most people underappreciate the dark meat, preferring to go for the less tasty white meat).

What is wonderful about duck is how well it goes with sweet, fruity sauces. As an alternative to cranberry sauce, why not make redcurrant sauce (I make a simple redcurrant gravy from redcurrant jelly when I cook duck whole) or a plum sauce (this can even be bought in oriental shops and still traditional). Duck with sweet orange sauce is easy to make, too.

Duck can also be stuffed with things like drunken red cabbage (red cabbage soaked in brandy or cointreau or something). Speaking of which, red cabbage and apples slow-braised in red wine is delicious.

If you do go the whole duck route (and I recommend it), get a more expensive and larger barbary duck. Secondly, it's all in the preparation. Unlike chicken, it's full of fat (ducks need this to stay warm in the water). The trick is to pierce the skin every 1-2cm with a skewer, but do not pierce the flesh. This way, the fat oozes out during the cooking but the flesh retains its moisture. When you put it in the oven, turn it every 30 minutes until done, and make sure to turn the heat way up for the last 30 minutes (roughly) to crisp up the skin. Do season it in lots of salt and pepper, and baste from time to time until the 30 minutes before you turn the heat up for the last blast.

If you've stuffed it with something tasty, oh man....

wishbone

How about Duck Confit instead of a duck - much easier to do...<snip> - guy in work is doing this... btw, Gary Rhodes does a lovely duck also in his book - he places the duck on a bed of cabbage fried with onion and a little smoked rasher, and then served with a cumberland sauce...yum yum

Faith

I've snipped out the link in your post wishbone because it looks an awful lot like you just signed up to promote that website, but I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.

wishbone

Faith wrote: »

I've snipped out the link in your post wishbone because it looks an awful lot like you just signed up to promote that website, but I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Sorry - brainwashed by guy pushing his new site in work - I did give someone else a recipe for an Apple Cake - so it's not my only focus!!

Faith

wishbone wrote: »

Sorry - brainwashed by guy pushing his new site in work - I did give someone else a recipe for an Apple Cake - so it's not my only focus!!

Indeed, it's why I gave you the benefit of doubt.

MORISH

I'm having duck too as it's only myself and my brother my mum is abandoning us for sunny spain:mad:!!

But duck is fab! I'v cooked it loads and disagree that the breasts are the way to go, if convienence is your thing then yes but as a christmas dinner i'd put in the effort. Firstly get a good quality duck prob best from a butchers but the supermarkets are doing great ones now. I always roast mine, but the chinese (kings of duck cooking in my opinion) always pour boiling water over the duck first i'v done this for my last few roast ducks and it gets the duck skin really crisp and it prevents the fat being too fatty when your eating it, Also another tip is that remove some of the fat from roasting tray as your cooking the duck as sometimes it can get very smoky in the kitchen. The duck fat makes the BEST roast potatoes in the world.

I did my last duck with rubarb&sage, placed it in the tray while cooking the duck then used the juices to make a divine sauce, but you could to a lovely redcurrent or cranberry sauce for christmas,and as said before red cabbage would be fab with it!!

muckety

Roast duck for me too. A tip for carving - when you've let it rest after roasting, take the breast off the carcass whole (run the knife along the tip of the bone and cut carefully around it) - then slice the breast for serving. (This works for goose well too although slices are much bigger!).

noby

Thanks for all the tips guys.

jdivision

serve the leftovers the following day with some puy lentils and balsamic vinegar, maybe some roast veg tooo