Duck can not only be baked, but also fried, braised, boiled, steamed and so on…
Usually duck is cooked for a holiday table, especially at Christmas and New Year. Most people prefer to cook stuffed duck, choosing the toppings to their taste. However, duck can not only be baked, but also fried, braised, boiled, steamed and so on. There are plenty of great recipes with duck breasts or legs…
But first Passion.ru will explain you how to choose a good duck:
It’s better to buy a duck of the meat type. It has gentle, soft and tasty meat. You can also buy a duck of the meat and egg-laying type. Egg laying type of duck should be avoided for cooking.
Best duck for cooking is a two months old duck. By this time, its weight reaches two kilograms or more, and the meat becomes tender, soft and delicious. In this case there is no characteristic unpleasant smell of duck.
The duck must be well-fed and with a smooth, shiny, but not sticky skin. Meat should have saturated red color on the cut.
10 secrets of cooking duck
Cooking duck is a little more complicated than, for example, chicken, so we picked up helpful tips on how to properly cook duck, so it turns out tender and tasty.
Choose a duck weighing 2 to 2.5 kg – it is a guarantee that the bird is young.
In the process of cutting it is required to cut the ducks butt, so that there was no odor.
For a roasted duck to be more juicy and flavorful, use apples, oranges, mushrooms with rice, prunes for the filling.
Time of cooking duck can be calculated like this: 40-45 minutes for 1 kg + 25 minutes for browning, temperature – 180 degrees. At lower temperatures, the cooking time increases. That is, for a roasted duck weighing 2 kg it takes approximately 1 hour 45 minutes.
If you have frozen duck, you should defrost it in advance on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.
Bake and roast duck can be on the grid, on the baking sheet, in utyatnitsu on pan in foil, in a sleeve for baking. If you decide to bake the duck whole, it is best to use a sleeve or foil, cutting them for 20 minutes until it is ready to duck browned.
If you bake the duck without a foil sleeve, be sure to water the duck heated with fat throughout the cooking process.
To duck breast did not dry, it should be quickly fry in a pan on medium or high heat.
There is another secret for beginners housewives: the duck can be a little boil (about 20 minutes) to cool and continue to cook for the recipe, then it definitely will not be raw inside.
If you purchased already singed a duck, then it is not necessary to singe. If not – it is recommended to singe the bird, especially if there is a “hemp”.
The best recipes of duck – Duck stuffed with fruit
Ingredients:
- Young duck – 2-2.5 kg,
- Apples – 300 g,
- Pear – 300 g,
- Plums – 300 g,
- Granulated sugar – 3 tbsp. spoons,
- Butter – 3 tbsp. spoons,
- Cardamom – a few grains,
- Carnation – 2-3 bud,
- Juniper dry (berries) – 1 handful
- Dry basil – 1 tbsp. a spoon,
- Salt,
- A mixture of peppers.
Preparation:
Singe the duck, if necessary (anneal on an open fire, such as a gas burner), then rub with a mixture of salt and pepper inside and out.
Remove pits from apples, pears and plums. Cut the fruit into cubes of medium size. Add to fruit sugar, powdered cardamom, juniper, clove, basil and mix – it will be filling.
Fill the inside of the duck prepared stuffing, sew the hole with a thread and fasten with toothpicks. Put the duck on a baking sheet. Melt the butter and pour it over the duck. Place the bird in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees, for 1.5-2 hours. Do not forget to constantly water duck with heated fat.
Duck stuffed with sauerkraut, in the sleeve for baking
Ingredients:
- Young Duck – 2-2.5 kg,
- Sauerkraut – 600 g,
- Onions – 2-3 pcs,
- Offal of duck – 500g,
- Pounded crackers of white bread – 1 cup,
- Salt,
- Pepper.
Preparation:
Rinse the duck, pat dry and remove with tweezers, if necessary, the remains of feathers. Then, cut the duck with a little fat.
Onions cut into medium-sized cubes and then the melted duck fat to a soft state. Add the sauerkraut and cook it with onions about 20 minutes Season with salt and pepper and then cut apart into pieces of duck giblets.
Connect the ready offal and cabbage with onions, stir and stuff the duck. Fix with toothpicks or sew with a thread. Place the stuffed duck into the sleeve for baking and cook in the oven at 160-180 degrees for 2.5-3 hours.
Duck breasts with orange sauce
Ingredients:
- Duck breasts – 2 pcs,
- Oranges – 2-3 pcs,
- Honey – 2 tbsp. spoons,
- Cinnamon – 2 pinches,
- Balsamic vinegar – 1 tsp,
- Butter – 20 g,
- Salt,
- A mixture of peppers.
Preparation:
Breasts wash, dry, put on the table, the skin up. Make incisions on the breasts diagonally first in one direction, then in another. Season the breasts salt and pepper.
Put the breasts on a well heated pan, skin down, and cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, then turn the breasts and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Ready breasts put on a sheet of foil and wrap. Then you need to give them a little “rest”.
At this time, squeeze the juice from oranges, pour the fat from the pan and put it back on a strong fire. Pour into pan, orange juice, honey, balsamic vinegar, cinnamon, add a little salt and pepper. Warm everything on high heat until the volume is reduced by half. Add the butter and stir the sauce and remove from heat.
Duck breast cut diagonally into slices 3-5 cm thick, put on a platter and pour the sauce.
Ragout of duck
Ingredients:
- Young duck – 2 kg,
- Carrots – 2 pcs,
- Parsley root – 1 units,
- Onions – 2 pcs,
- Potatoes – 600 g,
- Tomatoes in own juice without skin (crushed) – 400 g,
- Wheat flour – 1 tbsp. a spoon,
- Dill and parsley – 1 bunch,
- Bay leaf – 2 pcs,
- Salt,
- Pepper.
Preparation:
Singe the duck, if necessary, then rinse, cut into small pieces, salt and pepper. Roll the pieces of duck in flour, fry in a dry frying pan on both sides for 5 minutes. Transfer the duck pieces in a saucepan. Add a small amount of juice from the tomatoes and simmer for 25-30 minutes.
Peel the potatoes, carrots, parsley, and onion. Everything except the potatoes, chop finely. Potatoes should be cut into slices; add salt.
Chopped carrots, parsley root, onion slightly fry in the same pan, where the fried duck is. Add roasted vegetables, potatoes, bay leaf and tomatoes to the duck and cook under the lid until ready. Serve with chopped greens.
The sauce for the pasta with duck
Ingredients:
- Duck breast – 2 pcs,
- Onions – 2 pcs,
- Garlic – 4 cloves,
- Celery – 4 units,
- Tomatoes without skin in its own juice (chopped) – 400 g,
- Greens to taste – 1 bunch,
- Oil for frying,
- Salt,
- Pepper,
- Ready-made pasta.
Preparation:
Young duck breast without fat cut into cubes of medium size. Fry in a hot pan with oil over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then you need to put the duck breast in a saucepan, add salt and pepper and mix well, cover and leave it for 20-30 minutes.
Onions and garlic are to be peeled and chopped. Chop celery and the greens. In a frying pan, where the roasted duck is, put chopped onion, garlic and celery. Cook them in a frying pan until soft. Then put tomatoes into the pan, add the greens and stir, bring to a boil. Make fire less and cook for another 5 minutes at this point; you can add salt and pepper sauce.