Roasted Sherry Duck Recipes

ROAST DUCK BREAST WITH DRIED CHERRIES AND PORT

Steps:

• Wrap each duck breast in plastic wrap and pound them with a meat mallet until each breast is about 1 inch thick. Place the duck on a plate, sprinkle both sides with a total of 4 teaspoons salt, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
• When ready to cook the duck, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Score the skin of the duck breasts with a sharp knife, making a crosshatch pattern but not cutting down to the meat.
• In a large (12-inch) heavy-bottomed, ovenproof skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Place the duck breasts in the pan, skin side down. Cook uncovered over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes, discarding the fat from the pan occasionally, until the skin is very browned. Turn the duck with tongs, place the skillet in the oven, and roast for 12 to 18 minutes, until the internal temperature of the duck is 120 degrees F for rare. Remove from the oven, cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil, and allow the duck to rest for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce. Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the shallots and saute for 2 minutes, until tender. Add the vinegar and cook for one minute. Add the Port, chicken stock, cherries, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the crème fraîche, orange zest, and orange juice and keep warm over low heat.
• Transfer the duck to a cutting board and slice diagonally, fanning the slices out on 4 dinner plates. Spoon the sauce generously on top, sprinkle with salt, and serve hot with extra sauce on the side.

ROAST DUCK WITH CHERRIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a small bowl, stir together cloves, ground star anise, and ground cinnamon. Place potatoes, carrots, onion, turnip, and sweet potato in a roasting pan large enough to hold the duck; sprinkle half the spice mixture over the pan and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil and mix to coat.
• Rinse duck in cold water and pat dry. Rub duck all over with remaining spice mixture and 3 tablespoons olive oil; season generously, inside and out, with salt and pepper. Place duck, breast side up, on top of vegetables in roasting pan. Add neck and organs, along with thyme, bay leaves, and 2 cinnamon sticks. Cover pan tightly with parchment paper-lined aluminum foil; transfer to oven and cook for 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine cherries, red wine, sugar, remaining cinnamon stick, and whole star anise. Place over low heat and cook until cherries are soft and wine has reduced to a syrupy consistency, about 30 minutes. Reserve about 3 tablespoons of syrup for glazing the duck. Transfer remaining syrup to a small serving bowl; set aside and keep warm.
• Carefully uncover duck and baste with pan juices. Add garlic cloves to pan and re-cover with parchment paper-lined foil. Return duck to oven and continue cooking until meat starts pulling away from the bone, about 2 hours more.
• Uncover duck and brush with reserved cherry-wine syrup. Return to oven and roast until skin is crispy and dark, rich brown in color, about 15 minutes.
• Carefully transfer duck to a large serving platter. Let stand, uncovered, while preparing the vegetables. Transfer vegetables to a large bowl. Remove meat from the neck and add to vegetables, discarding bones. Thinly slice remaining organs and add to the vegetables; mash vegetables and meat together and season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer vegetable mixture to a serving bowl and serve immediately along with duck and cherry-wine syrup.

ROAST DUCK WITH ORANGE AND GINGER

Steps:

• Rinse duck and pat dry. Remove neck and giblets and save for another purpose. Remove excess fat from cavity and tail area and trim off a bit of flappy neck skin. Prick duck skin all over with tip of sharp paring knife, making sure not to penetrate meat.
• Mix together salt and 5-spice powder. Season interior of duck with 1 tablespoon salt mixture; use remainder to generously season exterior (you may have a little left over). Combine orange zest with grated ginger and garlic, then smear mixture inside cavity. Place orange wedges in cavity. Tie legs together. Secure neck flap with wooden skewer or toothpicks. Place duck on rack in roasting pan breast-side-up and refrigerate overnight, uncovered.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, bring duck to room temperature and make the glaze: Bring orange juice, honey, sugar and soy sauce to a simmer. Add sliced ginger and star anise, then reduce mixture until you have a medium-thick syrup, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Roast duck for 2 hours, carefully pouring off fat and turning duck over every 30 minutes. Paint with glaze and roast another 30 minutes (2 1/2 hours in all). Tent with foil if glaze begins to get too dark. Duck is done when temperature at thickest part of leg reads 165 degrees. Paint duck once more, keep warm and let rest 20 minutes. Use poultry shears to cut into quarters (remove backbone first) or carve in the traditional way, removing legs from carcass and slicing breast. Serve with mashed butternut squash if desired.

DUCK WITH WALNUT SHERRY VINAIGRETTE

Steps:

• Put a 13- by 9-inch shallow flameproof roasting pan (not glass) in middle of oven and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Pat duck dry and trim off any excess fat. Score duck skin in a crosshatch pattern at 1/2-inch intervals with a sharp knife, then sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place duck, skin sides down, in roasting pan and roast until thermometer inserted diagonally into center registers 135°F, 25 to 30 minutes for medium-rare.
• Preheat broiler. Turn duck over and broil (skin sides up) 6 inches from heat until fat is golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 10 minutes. (Internal temperature will rise to at least 145°F.)
• While duck stands, pour off all but 2 teaspoons fat from pan, then add shallots and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and cook, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Add vinegar, along with remaining 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and cook, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 30 seconds. Transfer to a bowl, then whisk in oil until combined. Stir in walnuts.
• Thinly slice duck and serve with vinaigrette drizzled around plates.

SLOW ROASTED DUCK WITH ORANGE-SHERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 500 degrees. In a large bowl, toss onions with melted butter. Season duck inside and out with salt and pepper. Place rosemary sprigs inside duck's cavity and then tightly pack with buttered onion mixture.
• Place duck in medium-size roasting pan, and roast for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and cover pan loosely with foil. Roast for about 4 1/2 hours, draining fat every hour.
• Remove pan from oven and carefully discard as much fat as possible with a ladle. Add orange juice, sherry and soy sauce. Return pan to oven and roast uncovered for 30 minutes. Transfer duck to a platter and let cool slightly. Pour pan juices (about 4 cups) into a saucepan, discarding any pieces of skin. Skim off fat and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add carrots and reduce to 1 1/2 cups, strain and keep on the side. In same pan, sauté mushrooms with 2 tablespoons butter until brown. Add red peppers and briefly sauté, then add reduced sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm over low heat.
• Remove onions and rosemary from duck's cavity. Remove meat from bones. Place skin from duck breasts onto cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees until skin starts to foam, about 5 to 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 200 degrees and place meat in oven to keep warm until serving.
• Cover bottoms of individual plates with sauce and top with either pasta, shoestring fries, hash browns or unsalted potato chips. Place a generous amount of duck meat on top, then garnish with crispy skin, vegetables and chives.