Bavarian roast duck

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 duck(s), approx. 3 kg, fresh
• 3 apples
• 2 onions
• 1 bunch of parsley, flat-leaf
• 1 bunch of soup vegetables
• e.g. vegetable broth
• Calvados
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 hours 30 minutes; Total time approx. 4 hours

Wash the duck, trim off the wings, throat, and rump, discarding the rump. Pat the duck dry, season with salt and pepper inside and out. Dice the vegetables, setting some aside. Brown the wings and throat along with some of the vegetables, pour in the stock, and simmer for a while. This will then serve – strained – as the base for the sauce. In a bowl, mix the apple pieces and onion with chopped parsley, then stuff the duck into the pan and seal. In a roasting pan (with a lid, make sure it has a lid), brown the remaining vegetables and diced onion, deglaze with a dash of Calvados, and pour in the duck sauce base. Place the duck breast-down in the roasting pan, cover, and cook at 180°C (top/bottom heat) for 3.5–4 hours, turning once. About half an hour before the end of the cooking time, place the duck on its back, remove the lid, and roast it infraredly (= hot air grilling, if possible). Then remove the roast duck, strain the sauce, remove the fat, and let it reduce. Then place the duck back on a baking sheet or in the roasting pan lid at a higher temperature and let it brown all over. Done! A duck of this size needs 3.5 to 4 hours! This will make it truly tender and, thanks to the closed roasting pan, prevent it from drying out!