Whole Duck (Updated - v2)

Attention! Preparation time is around 3 hours.

Preparation You'll need: A casserole dish (large enough for the duck)
Ingredients (for 2-3 persons) 1 Barbary duck (around 1.5 kilograms) ½ apple (e.g. Boskoop red) Thyme 6 table spoons oil 5 tea spoons Herbes de Provence 5 tea spoons Paprika 250 millilitres water (hot) 1 tea spoon salt 300 to 400 grams Mirepoix (leek, carrot, celeriac) 1 Onion 4 cloves of Garlic 350 millilitres broth 150 millilitres red wine 3 tea spoons gravy thickener Optional side dishes: You could try cutting rutabaga into long sticks (like chips) and just cook them for a few minutes in salt water. Also cooked sweet potato, cut in large cubes, would go well with it.
First Steps Coarsely dice the soup vegetables, garlic and onion and add everything to the roasting dish. Wash the duck and dry it. Stuff with the apple and a twig of Thyme. Turn the wings on the back and fix them. Pierce the skin under the wings several times deeply, so that the fat can run out. Bind the legs and push the rump under them. Mix the oil with the herbs and spices and brush the duck with it. Bring the water to boil and pour with 1 tsp. of salt into the casserole dish. Put the duck with the breast on the underside into the dish, add the vegetables.
Frying the duck Put the duck into the oven (not pre-heated) on level 2 and fry for 70 minutes at 170℃. After 20 minutes you can start brushing the duck every 10 minutes with the stock from the casserole dish. Each time add some of the prepared broth. After 70 minutes, take the duck out and turn it around. Continue frying it for another 50-60 minutes. Keep brushing it with the stock. If it looks to get too thick, add some water. Around 10 minutes before the end, brush the skin with salt water and fry it until the skin is cross. When the duck is done, take it out and let it rest for a few minutes on a board, before you cut it.
Frying the duck Pour the wine into the stock and pour that into a pot. Skim the fat and season the stock with salt, pepper and thyme. Let it boil up and add the gravy thickener.

 

Braised duck in a fine sauce

 

Very tasty duck drumsticks with a great sauce.

Attention!
Here red cabbage is a must (homemade). Make this the day before (tastes better).
Also Kartoffelknödel (potato dumplings) go well with it.
Preparation time for the drumsticks approx. 2.5 to 3 hours!

Preparation You'll need: An oven-safe pan with a lid, a roaster that seals well or a tajine (that's what I use). A small pan A small pot for the red cabbage from the previous day
Ingredients (for 2 people). 2 drumsticks of Barbarie duck (approx. 350 g each) We don't find duck breast so great with that sauce. 2 medium red onions 1 medium carrot (approx. 75-100 g) 1 small piece of celery root (approx. 75-100 g) just under 2 Tbsp. clarified butter/ghee (the fat from foie gras also fits perfectly) 1 tsp. brown cane sugar 50 mL port wine 300 mL red wine Approx. 350 ml broth (preferably duck, if you can't find that, game, or poultry in a pinch). 2-3 tsp plum jam 4 tsp redcurrant jelly 8 bay leaves 1 star anise 2-3 tsp Mondamin Gravy thickener for dark sauces or simply cornflour Salt and pepper from the mill Nutmeg, possibly some cinnamon
Preparation Roughly dice 2 medium red onions, 75-100 g carrot and 75-100 g celery root, set aside. Rinse the duck legs, pat dry, salt.Heat about 1 Tbsp clarified butter in pan/broiler and sear drumsticks briefly on both sides over medium-high heat until just lightly browned. Set aside. In the used pan, now sauté the root vegetables for a few minutes (for the roasted flavours of the drumsticks). Sprinkle with 1 tsp. cane sugar and caramelise. Deglaze with 50 mL port wine, continue to fry until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Preheat the oven to 140℃ (fan oven). Add 300 mL red wine and approx. 350 mL stock, bring to the boil briefly. Place the duck legs in the stock, add 8 bay leaves and 1 star anise. Then place in the oven, covered, and braise for 2 hours. 2 hours time for other things ☺
Last steps Now put the pan/roaster back on the cooker, put the duck legs on the side and tip the stock through a sieve back into the pan. Discard the collected root vegetables, as well as the bay leaves and star anise. Reduce the stock by half over a high heat. Now it would be time to warm up the red cabbage from the previous day in a small saucepan. Thicken the reduced stock with 2-3 tsp Mondamin (for dark sauces) or cornflour, reduce again slightly if necessary. Season well with salt, pepper, freshly grated nutmeg, a pinch of cinnamon and 2-3 tsp. of plum jam. As soon as everything is right with the sauce (taste and consistency), pour it back into the tajine, add the duck legs and grill in the oven (level 4, grill, 250℃) until the skin is a nice dark brown. Now serve with the side dishes, such as red cabbage and/or marrons and (separately) some redcurrant jelly.

Quail in Morel Sauce

Goes well with a strong red wine, e. g. a Rioja

Preparation time around 1.5 hours

Preparation You'll need: A small pot with lid A fine sieve A large pan A casserole dish A medium ceramic bowl Several small bowls
Ingredients (for 2 persons) 4 quails (= approx. 1 kg) Morels: 20 g dried morels 200 mL milk For the stuffing: 50 g chestnuts (precooked) 2 Tbsp. Créme Fraîche (ca. 80 g) 1-2 twigs of thyme 2 apricots, half dried ¼ tsp. Piment d'Espelette or cayenne pepper 2 dashes of lemon juice 2 cloves of garlic For the sauce: 30 g chopped shallots 1 Tbsp. butter 2½ Tbsp. Cognac 250 mL white wine (dry) 5 Tbsp. Créme Fraîche (ca. 170 g) 1½ Tbsp. gravy thickener for dark sauces (in Germany I'd buy Mondamin Fix Soßenbinder) Further side dishes: 100 to 150 g chestnuts 4 Rösti (McCain) - Hash browns for you ;-)
Preparation Morels First put 20 g dried morels (for filling and sauce) into a not too fine sieve and rinse vigorously. Then let them simmer for 15 minutes in a small pot (covered) with 250 mL milk. In the meantime.... Chestnuts Prepare 150 bis 200 g Maronen according to instructions - usually, they only have to simmer weakly in water in their plastic packaging for about 5 minutes. Quails If necessary, chop off the head of the quails at the base of the neck. Rinse them, check the inside, that it's clean, dry them off with kitchen paper and fry them on high heat in oil. Let them cool down in a plate. Morels After the morels have simmered for 15 minutes, pass them through a fine sieve, catch the milk in a ceramic bowl, it will be needed for the sauce. Take around 20 g of the morels and cut them into small pieces (I seek for the not so nice pieces), they will be needed for the stuffing, set aside for a moment. The remaining morels can be put back with the milk. Stuffing Mash 50 g chestnuts with a fork in a medium bowl. Add: 2 Tbsp. Créme Fraîche, the chopped morels, 2 apricots (cut small), leaves of thyme (of 1 or 2 twigs), 2 dashes of lemon juice, 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped) and ¼ tsp. Piment d'Espelette or cayenne pepper. Mix well. Put the rest of the chestnuts on the side. Quails Preheat the oven at 200℃. Fill the quails with the stuffing, you could either use a pastry bag, or simply do it with your hands. Bake the quails in a greased casserole dish for 20 to 25 minutes (convection), brush them once or twice with the sauce collecting in the dish. Just before the quails are done, add the plates to heat them up. In the meantime... Rösti Slowly fry 4 Rösti in a good deal of sunflower oil (2 to 3 mm) in a small pan at medium heat. That will take its time and they should be ready around the time the rest is done, too. In the meantime continue with the sauce... Sauce Chop 2 or 3 shallots finely; 30 g are needed. Sauté them in 1 Tbsp. butter in a pan, add 1½ Tbsp. Mondamin, mix well. Deglaze with 250 mL white wine, stir well, let it simmer for 3 minutes. Add 2½ Tbsp. Cognac and let it simmer for another 3 minutes. Add 5 Tbsp. Créme Fraîche (ca. 170 g), mix well. Pour the morels with the milk into the pan, season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep the sauce warm (but don't let it simmer). Arrange the plates Since there are 2 quails per person, I usually serve in two courses. Therefore, arrange 1 quail, 1 Rösti and 1/4 of the sauce each on 1 preheated plate. Place the chestnuts separately in a bowl on the table. Keep the remaining quails and Rösti warm in the oven (switched off), the remaining sauce in the pan (set to lowest heat, bring to boil before serving).

Duck breast with sweet potato

 

 

Attention! Takes around 1.5 hours to prepare.

Ingredients (for 2 persons)

Preparation You'll need: Casserole dish Medium-sized pot Two small pots A pan
For the duck breast: 450-500 g breast of a barbary duck 1 small onion 1 scant Tbsp. brown cane sugar 150 mL red wine 300 mL duck stock 1 small carrot 1 celery stalk 80 g leek or celery bulb 2 tsp fermented Pondicherry pepper 15 mL port wine 2 Tbsp honey Normal salt and fleur de sel Sunflower oil
For the port onions: 150-200 g red pearl onions (shallots also work, but are not optimal) 150 mL port wine 4 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar Salt Sunflower oil
For the sweet potato purée: 500 g sweet potatoes 3 tbsp sweet cream Salt and coarse pepper Nutmeg
Preparation in several steps
Step 1: Preparing the duck breast and sauce Rinse the duck breast and carefully pat dry.Cut into the skin with a sharp knife in both directions - taking care to cut into the meat itself as little as possible. Rub the fat layer with fleur de sel, then place in the centre of an ovenproof dish (skin side up) and set aside. Chop 1 small carrot, 1 celery stalk and 80g leek stalk (not the leaves) or celery bulb and set aside in a bowl. Dice 1 small onion and sauté in sunflower oil in a large pan over high heat, sprinkle with just under 1 tbsp brown cane sugar and sauté until caramel forms (under 5 minutes). Deglaze with 150 mL red wine, add remaining vegetables and reduce over medium heat until only a little liquid remains.Tip into small saucepan, add 300 mL duck stock and simmer gently, covered, for 15 minutes. In the meantime, continue with step 2!
Step 2: Preparing the port wine onions Skin 150 to 200 g of pearl onions/shallots and sauté over a rather high heat (medium heat if shallots) in a pan, with a little sunflower oil, stirring frequently, until dark brown. Preheat the oven to 160℃. Deglaze with 150 mL port, reduce greatly, stirring frequently, to about a quarter. Now add 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar, salt a little and glaze over a low heat for about 5 minutes. Set aside in a bowl.
Step 3: Duck breast in the oven Pour the stock (with vegetables) around the duck in the ovenproof dish. Cook in the oven for about 30-35 minutes (fan oven, 160℃, no lid). After 30 minutes, continue here, in the meantime you can make the sweet potato puree.
Step 4: The sweet potato puree Rinse the sweet potatoes and boil them unpeeled in a medium pot until soft (15 to 20 minutes). Then rinse in cold water, peel with your hands (this is very easy) and return to the empty pot. Add 3 tbsp sweet cream, some grated nutmeg, 2 pinches salt and some coarse ground pepper. Mash with a sturdy mash with a sturdy fork or potato masher. Set aside in the pot.
Last steps After a total of 30 minutes in the oven, check the core temperature of the duck breast; it should have reached 60 to 65℃. If so, park the duck breast on a plate for a short while and continue with the sauce. Otherwise, put it back in the oven for a few minutes. You can also check the sauce now, if it is too dry, you can add some more duck stock (50 to 100 mL), but it should be fine. Tip the sauce through a coarse sieve into a large bowl. Discard the vegetables. Now bring the sauce back to a strong boil in the saucepan for the last few minutes, reducing it slightly. Coarsely grind 2 tsp pondicherry pepper. In a small saucepan, briefly bring 15 mL port, 2 Tbsp honey and the mortared pepper to the boil, then simmer gently for 2 minutes. Set the pot aside. Put the oven on top grill and wait until the grill coil is very hot. Meanwhile, return the duck breast to the empty oven dish (skin side up). Brush the skin with the honey pepper. Next, put the oven dish back in the oven (middle shelf). As this is now done quickly, you can warm up the dinner plates and 2 medium ceramic bowls for sauces underneath. Roast the duck breast for a few minutes until it has browned as desired; remove from the oven, cut into thick strips. Briefly reheat the puree. Arrange some of the duck, sauce, puree and shallots on each plate and sprinkle some of the remaining honey pepper over them. Place the rest of the puree and sauce in the warmed bowls on the table.

Goes well with a strong red wine, e. g. a Spanish Rioja.