Duck with apples, prunes and bacon

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 jar wine, red
• 1 jar water
• 250 g prunes
• 1 duck(s) (Barbarie), approx. 1.8 kg
• salt and pepper
• 3 apples, sour
• ½ lemon(s), the juice
• 100 g bacon, streaky
• 4 tbsp oil, or 40 g margarine, for frying
• 125 ml water, hot
• 20 g flour
• 125 ml cream

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 45 minutes

Mix red wine and water. Soak the prunes in it for about 1 hour. Wash the duck and pat dry. Rub inside and out with salt and pepper. Wash the apples and quarter them (unpeeled), remove the cores, and drizzle with lemon juice. Mix the finely diced bacon and drained prunes with the apple pieces. Stuff three-quarters of this mixture into the duck and sew it up. Place in the roasting pan. Heat oil or margarine and baste the duck. Place in the preheated oven on the middle rack. Roast at 200°C for about 90 minutes using top/bottom heat. Pour hot water over the duck and ladle over the cooking juices. 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time, add the remaining fruit and bacon mixture to the roasting pan and let it cook. Then remove the duck from the oven and remove any strings. Keep warm on a plate. Sieve the cooking juices and bring to a boil. Stir in the flour and cream. Add to the boiling sauce while stirring and simmer for about 10 minutes. Then cut the duck into portions and arrange them in the fruit mixture. Tip: If the duck is very fatty, I always skim off the fat before thickening the sauce. It’s ideal for stews or for sautéing cabbage.