Barbarie – Portion Ducks

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 duck(s), female, 1.3-1.5 kg each
• 2 apples, (Boskop)
• 2 m.-sized onion(s)
• 8 sprigs of marjoram
• 1 bay leaf
• 250 ml wine, red, dry
• 125 ml port wine
• 400 ml duck or chicken stock
• Pepper, white from the mill
• Pepper, whole, green
• Salt
• Sugar
• Lard (goose fat)
• Honey
• Balsamic vinegar
• Butter in flakes, ice-cold or some rice starch

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

As a main course, one duck serves two people. If it’s part of a set menu, serve three people. Two people each get a leg and half a breast, and one person gets a whole breast. Cut the outer duck wings at the joint, cut them into walnut-sized pieces, including the neck, and fry them in a little lard. Add a quartered onion and a quartered apple, and let everything brown. Sprinkle with a little sugar and let it caramelize. Deglaze with red wine, reduce the heat, and deglaze again with port. Add peppercorns, two sprigs of marjoram, a bay leaf, 400 ml stock, and 350 ml water, and simmer for two hours. Wash the ducks thoroughly in lukewarm water. Dry them, and season the inside with pepper and salt. Stuff each with half an apple, half an onion, and three sprigs of marjoram. Do not add more, or too much liquid will form and the duck will overcook. Tie the bird so that the back opening is closed and the legs and wings are snug against the body. Pin the flap of skin from the neck to the back with a toothpick. Preheat the oven to 150°C fan/convection oven, rub the ducks with a little oil, place them on their backs in the pan, and bake for about 1.5 hours. Turn the birds several times and baste them with lightly salted water. This works really well with a large syringe that I got from the pharmacy. Then set the oven to 200°C for about 20 minutes and brown the ducks until crispy. Be careful not to overcook them. When the legs feel soft and are nicely browned, the ducks are done. Drain the fat from the frying pan, loosen the sediment with red wine or water, and add it to the sauce. Reduce the sauce by about half, season to taste with a little honey, a few green peppercorns, and balsamic vinegar; it should taste tangy sweet with a slight acidity. Thicken the sauce with the butter flakes or a little rice starch. To serve, carefully remove the breasts from the carcass and serve boneless. The legs are also cleanly separated from the body, and the upper thigh bone is carefully twisted out of the meat. The lower bone remains attached. Discard the remaining carcass. Serve with caramelized red cabbage and boiled potatoes or celery puree.