Norman's Roast Duck

Norman’s Roast Duck

When was the last time you had roast duck? One of my favorite meals is roast duck. Years ago I used to make it often because the Jewel by my house had fresh duck in their meat counter. Nowadays, I can only find it frozen, which is a pain because I have to wait until it thaws out before I can roast it. I can’t have on the spur of the moment any more.

I’ve found that if I purchase the duck on Tuesday, it will be thawed out by Saturday. That gives me all day Saturday to look forward to my feast. I don’t always make it with sauerkraut, but it is my favorite way to fix it. If you really don’t want the kraut, just leave it out and shorten your cooking time a little.

A lot of people claim they don’t like duck because it is too greasy. It isn’t if it is cooked right. By roasting for a long time over low heat, you give the fat time to render out. The final step with high heat completes the process. You end up with crispy skin and meat that’s not greasy.

1 Duckling, about 5-1/2 lb.

1 14 oz. can of sauerkraut

1 lemon, sliced

Salt

Pepper

Cajun seasoning

Thyme

1 large onion, halved

1 stalk of celery, with leaves

Poultry seasoning

water

flour

Preparation

Remove the giblets and neck from the duck and place them in a sauce pot with the onion and celery. Sprinkle them with a little poultry seasoning. Fill the pot with water and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer very gently for a couple of hours while the duck is roasting. Once it has simmered for a couple of hours, remove and chop the giblets, and save both the giblets and broth for making gravy.

Place the duck on a rack in a large cast iron pan. Rub the duck with the lemon slices, squeezing the slices as you rub. Fill the cavity of the duck with the sauerkraut and tie the legs together. Fold the wings under the duck. Place the duck in a 325º oven for 2-1/2 hours. Baste the duck every thirty minutes with drippings from the pan.

Remove the duck from the oven and turn the oven up to 450º. Use a fork to prick the skin all over to help the remaining fat render out. Once the oven is up to temperature, place the duck back in for another twenty minutes. 

Remove the duck to a platter and place the cast iron on the stove over high heat. Add the giblets to the pan and stir. You may notice that a lot of stuff is stuck to the pan. Don’t worry, we’ll deal with that in a minute. 

Stir the giblets until they are sizzling. Sprinkle on a little flour to absorb most of the excess fat. Add about two cups of the giblet broth. Using a metal spatula, stir and scrape up the stuff stuck to the pan. Be patient, it may take several minutes until it is all scrapped up and dissolved into the gravy. If necessary add more broth. Once everything is scrapped up, continue cooking and adjust with more broth to achieve a nice gravy texture. Taste for salt and pepper, but with the kraut drippings, it probably won’t need any salt. Pour the sauce into a gravy bowl.

Serving

To serve this, place a breast and leg quarter on a plate next to a big pile of wild rice. Cover both with gravy. Add a bunch of Brussels sprouts cooked with walnuts and bacon and then add some of the kraut from inside the duck. Now put out a couple of piping hot dinner rolls with butter and open a bottle of Montepulciano DʼAbruzzo and ring the dinner bell.