Once upon a time, cooks prepared bird carcasses over flames and coals using hooks and chains. Today, the most common cooking method is baking in the oven. At the same time, duck is the second most popular bird after chicken in cooking. There are many ways to bake a duck in the oven, including the most exotic ones. The most interesting of them are presented in this article.
Duck with jam
As a rule, duck meat is baked with apples or other acidic fruits. But when using jam, too, an interesting taste is obtained. In total for this dish you will need:
- 1 whole duck (2-2.5 kg);
- pepper and salt;
- 2 tablespoons tallow, duck fat or olive oil;
- 1 tablespoon brandy;
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme;
- 1 garlic clove minced in minced meat;
- 1/3 cup red currant jam or apples, heated.
How to bake a duck with cognac and jam?
Wipe the poultry carcass dry, inside and out, with paper towels. Trim any loose skin. Then gently separate the skin from the carcass without tearing or removing it. Rub the outer part of the skin and the inner cavity of the duck with salt and pepper, then put it in the refrigerator and let it stand for at least 6 hours (ideally, leave it overnight).
At what temperature do you bake the duck in the oven? Place the rack in the center of the oven and preheat it to 180 degrees. In a small saucepan, melt lard or other fat and add cognac, jam, thyme and garlic. Cover the duck carcass with this mixture very carefully. Take a rectangular or oval large baking dish, cover it with a metal wire rack. Lay the duck on the wire rack so that all juices can drain into the mold. Fry until the skin begins to brown, and part of the fat does not melt. It takes about 25 minutes.
Then remove the mold from the oven, raise the temperature to 250 degrees. Dip the duck in melted fat on all sides. Put again on the grill with the other side, put in the oven and fry another 25 minutes. Check for readiness by making an incision. If the meat juice is clear, the duck is ready. If not, lower the temperature and continue baking, turning the bird over every 5 minutes. Leave the finished duck for 5 minutes before slicing.
Baked duck with orange flavor
Orange marmalade and glaze made from soy sauce emphasize the rich taste of duck. This dish will bring irresistible pleasure to the whole family at any time of the year. To bake a duck in the oven according to this recipe, you will need:
- a duck weighing 2.5 kg;
- 2 small oranges;
- half a glass of orange marmalade jam;
- 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, individually;
- 3/4 cup chicken stock;
- 2 teaspoons corn starch;
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar.
How to cook it?
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a large metal pan with foil.
Take the carcass of the duck, cut off the upper segments of the wings and neck with kitchen scissors or a large knife, set aside. Remove excess skin and fat around the neck and holes in the cavity.
Cut the oranges into quarters. Set aside 3 pieces, place the remaining orange pieces inside the duck. Fold the wings under the carcass and tie the legs with kitchen thread. With a skewer or fork, make holes in the skin without piercing the meat. This allows the fat to drain during frying unhindered.
Stir marmalade and 2 tablespoons tablespoons of soy sauce in a small bowl. Loosen the skin above the chest and hips and rub about three tablespoons of marmalade under the skin. Place the carcass with the breast down in the prepared pan. Fry the duck for an hour, then carefully pour out the fat. Return the duck to the oven, turning it upside down. Continue baking, brushing with marmalade and soy sauce every 15 minutes until cooked. How long does it take to bake a duck in the oven? It takes a little over an hour.
Meanwhile, place the stored wing tips and neck in a medium pan, add the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the amount of liquid is reduced by half. It takes 5 to 7 minutes. Strain and discard the solids, return the broth to the pan. Squeeze the juice from the remaining quarters of orange into a small bowl, add corn starch and beat until smooth. Mix the juice mixture, the remaining marinade and brown sugar with the broth, cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened, for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the remaining tablespoon of soy sauce. Transfer the finished duck to a chopping board, let it stand for 15 minutes before slicing. Serve with the sauce.
Duck with potatoes and figs
This is an original Turkish recipe, which suggests using not fig sour berries and fruits, but sweet figs with the bird. According to this recipe, you can bake a duck in the oven in the sleeve, but its use is optional here. In total you will need:
- 2 carcasses of duck weighing approximately 2.5 kg;
- 2 large onions, quarters;
- 1 very large rosemary, chopped;
- salt, freshly ground pepper;
- 1.5 kg of medium-sized potatoes, peeled;
- 0.5 kg of figs in half.
How to cook a duck according to the Turkish recipe?
As a rule, carcasses of birds are sold frozen, so purchase them in advance before cooking so that they can thaw.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Put the ducks with their breasts down on the work surface and cut off the fat from them. Turn over and place the cut off fat inside the carcasses, trying to position it in the breast area. Stuff the ducks with onions and put 4 sprigs of rosemary in them, season generously with salt and pepper.
Place the carcasses with their breasts down in a large baking pan, pour 1/2 cup of water there. Bake, turning the pan from time to time, until the fat begins to actively float, and the skin becomes golden brown. It takes approximately 40 minutes to bake the duck in the oven. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the ducks to a dish or baking dish. Carefully pour fat into a heat-resistant measuring cup.
Put potatoes and 1/4 cup duck fat in a pan (set aside the rest), season with salt and pepper. Spread the potatoes around the perimeter (if it is large, cut it in half) and put the ducks back with their breasts up. Continue baking the bird in the oven at 200 degrees until the potatoes and dark meat are tender, 50-60 minutes. Transfer the ducks to a cutting board, leave to stand for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
Meanwhile, add the figs and the remaining 4 rosemary sprigs into the pan and mix with the fat. Fry until it is soft and juicy, 5-8 minutes. Serve the duck with figs and potatoes.
Spicy duck legs with plums
This is one of the classic recipes - bake a duck in the oven in a sleeve with berries. For this recipe you will need:
- 2 duck legs;
- 6 large acidic but ripe plums;
- 4 shallots;
- 125 grams of brown basmati rice;
- 25 grams of hazelnuts;
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped coriander.
For marinade:
- 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce;
- 2 tablespoons of hoisin sauce;
- juice and finely grated zest of half an orange;
- 1 teaspoon of light honey;
- 1 stick of cinnamon;
- 1 star anise (optional).
Cooking spicy dishes
In a medium bowl, mix the marinade ingredients. Trim the excess fat from the duck, place the carcass in the marinade, then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (ideally overnight).
Preheat the oven to 160 ° C. Put the legs with the marinade in the baking sleeve, place it in the mold, put on the middle rack. How many bake duck in the oven in the sleeve? It takes about 1 hour 30 minutes. Remove from oven, remove everything from sleeve and place in baking dish.
Cut plums, chop onions. Place these components next to the duck legs in the mold. Return the form to the oven, bake without foil for another 1 hour 30 minutes, until the meat begins to easily move away from the bone. About half an hour before you get the duck, baked in the oven in pieces (legs), boil the rice in boiling salt water for about 20 minutes, drain and return to the pan. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until toasting. Cool a little, then chop nuts and put in rice.
Serve the duck with plums, shallots and rice with hazelnuts, sprinkle with chopped coriander. Remove the cinnamon stick and anise star from the finished dish.
Thai Duck
This option, how to bake a duck in the oven, is a classic Asian. There is no need to caramelize sugar and add many different complex ingredients that are present in most recipes. The most important component is dark soy sauce, so it is important to buy a quality variety of it. In total you will need:
- 1 medium duck;
- 5 sticks of cinnamon;
- 2 dried chili peppers;
- 5 stars anise;
- 7 slices of blue ginger (galangal);
- 7 cloves of garlic;
- 350 ml of dark soy sauce;
- 2 tablespoons of white sugar.
How to cook duck in Thai?
Fry all dry spices until a pronounced aroma appears. Add soy sauce, sugar, all spices and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, pour into a baking dish and put the duck in the sauce. Add enough water so that 3/4 of the carcass is immersed in the liquid.
Stew at 150 degrees in the oven for 1.5 hours, turning the duck over every 20 minutes. She will be ready immediately, as soon as the meat is tender. Leave to cool at room temperature.
If you want to make a baked duck in the oven, you can change the recipe. When the duck is cooked within an hour, cover the baking dish with a “lid” from a simple unleavened dough. Bake for about 30 minutes.
Juniper duck
This is an original way to bake a duck in the oven. The bird turns spicy and fragrant. For this recipe you need:
- one whole duck, weighing about 2 kg;
- 1 teaspoon black pepper;
- 1/4 teaspoon of pink pepper;
- 1/4 teaspoon of green pepper;
- 4 juniper berries;
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar;
- 1 bay leaf;
- sea or mineral salt;
- a few twigs of thyme, only leaves;
- finely grated zest of one lemon;
- finely grated zest of one lime.
How to cook such a duck?
Please note that this recipe requires 3 types of pepper. If you do not have one of them, replace it with the same amount of another kind.
Take a mortar and pestle and grind the peppercorns, juniper berries and bay leaf until you get coarse powder. Then add salt and thyme and continue to rub. Finally add the zest and crush it with spices until all the ingredients look like a single mass.
Rub the bird carcass well with salt and leave for several hours in the refrigerator. Then remove and thoroughly wipe with a mixture of spices inside and out. Put the duck in a deep pan. This is necessary in order to then collect delicious duck fat. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
Do not cover the duck with a lid or foil. So the skin can dry out, and this will allow a crisp to form during baking.
Remove the duck from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking and preheat the oven to 200 ° C. Then bake the carcass for at least 90 minutes. It is ready if transparent juice flows out when you insert the knife into the leg. Remove the duck from the oven and let it stand breast-down for 20 minutes before serving.
Duck with apples and rice
It is believed that roasting the whole duck is much easier than chicken. A high fat content reduces the risk of overdrying.
In addition, you can use this recipe to bake a duck in the oven with potatoes, putting vegetables under and around the carcass in the middle of cooking time. So root crops are saturated with meat juices. The result will be delicious fried potatoes. In the carcass itself, you can put apples that fill with the taste and aroma of meat. For this mouth-watering recipe, you will need:
- 1 whole duck;
- 1 cup mayonnaise;
- 6 large cloves of garlic, crushed;
- 1/2 large onion, grated;
- garlic salt;
- pepper and ordinary table salt;
- 3 cups boiled brown rice;
- 1 large green apple;
- 2 large carrots.
How to cook a duck with apples?
Combine mayonnaise with garlic, onions and peppers and salt.
Rinse the duck, dry with a paper towel. Rub with a mixture of mayonnaise and cover with plastic wrap. Leave in the fridge overnight.
Then remove the excess marinade from the duck. Peel and chop the carrots into large pieces. Divide the apple into 8 parts. Stuff the duck with boiled rice. Place the carrots and apple slices inside the carcass close to the skin.
Bake at 150 degrees for about 90 minutes until it turns golden brown. Serve the duck baked in the oven with rice, hot.
Another option with apples
As noted above, duck meat goes very well with apples. And if you add apple cider to it, you will get a surprisingly tasty dish. This cooking option is especially good for wild birds, as it allows you to completely remove the specific smell of game. In total you will need:
- 1 or 2 whole duck carcasses;
- salt and pepper;
- 2 tablespoons olive tea oils;
- 1 large green apple, cut into 8 pieces;
- 1 onion, chopped into large pieces;
- 6 garlic cloves, peeled and crumbled;
- 8 branches of fresh thyme;
- 2 sprigs of rosemary;
- 1 bay leaf;
- 5 glasses of apple cider;
- half a teaspoon of whole pepper.
Additionally:
- 1.5 cups of duck fat melted during baking;
- 1/2 to 1 cup chicken stock;
- 3 tablespoons table oils;
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour.
How to cook this dish?
Rinse the duck and dry well with paper towels. If you leave the skin, pierce it on all sides with a sharp toothpick. Rub the carcass inside and out with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to the pan and lay the duck breast-down. Turn on the medium temperature and fry until golden brown, then turn the carcass over and repeat the same with the other side. If there is room in the pan, fry the onions at the same time as the duck.
Take out the bird and set it aside. Add onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary and apple slices with a pinch of salt to the pan. Stir thoroughly and fry a little.
Pour apple cider into a lollipop or deep form. Put fried onions and apples with spices there. Put the duck in this mixture, add bay leaf and pepper. Bake at 140 degrees for 3 hours or until the duck is soft.
To make apple sauce, pour the melted duck fat with cider sauce through a sieve into the pan. Remove solid particles. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce to a volume of about one and a half glasses. Remove from heat. Then heat 3 tablespoons of oil in another pan or pan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of flour and beat for about 2-3 minutes. Slowly pour duck fat with sauce and simmer over low heat until you get the consistency of gravy. If the sauce is too thick, dilute it with warmed chicken stock. Pour the sauce onto the duck.