Stuffed Franconian duck

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1 duck(s) (approx. 1.8 kg)
• 300 g white bread without crust, diced
• 1 tbsp clarified butter or duck fat
• 200 ml milk
• Duck offal (heart, stomach, liver)
• 2 sprigs of marjoram
• 4 sage leaves
• 3 sprigs of parsley
• 1 m.-sized apple
• ½ onion(s), diced
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp raisins
• 200 g chestnuts, cooked
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 bunch of soup vegetables
• 1 pinch of mugwort
• 1 pinch of marjoram
• 1 pinch of lovage
• 1 small bay leaf
• 2 cloves
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 500 ml wine (Franconian wine), dry
• 500 ml chicken stock
• nutmeg
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

Lay the duck on its belly and make a sharp cut along the spine. Carefully remove the meat from the bone, taking care not to damage the skin. Remove the entire carcass. Carefully remove the leg and wing bones, then roughly chop the carcass and bones. Clean the deboned duck and pat dry with kitchen paper. Toast the white bread cubes in duck or clarified butter. Briefly bring the milk to a boil and pour over the white bread cubes. Clean and finely chop the giblets. Chop the marjoram, sage, and parsley, and dice the peeled and cored apple. Brown the onions and giblets in hot butter. Add the apple cubes, herbs, and raisins. Mix everything with the white bread and add the chestnuts. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper, and fill the duck with the stuffing. Carefully tie the duck with kitchen string, pressing it into shape slightly, and season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a roasting pan, add the butter, and sear the duck all over. Roast in a preheated oven at 225°C for approximately 1.5 hours. After 45 minutes of roasting, add the roasted vegetables (soup vegetables) and the chopped bones. Shortly before the end of the roasting time, add the mugwort, marjoram, lovage, bay leaves, and cloves. Remove the roasting pan from the oven and keep the duck warm. Add the tomato paste to the roasting pan, deglaze with the wine and stock, and reduce by half. Strain the sauce. Carve the duck and remove the kitchen string. Serve with Franconian potato dumplings and red cabbage.