Stuffed duck for Christmas

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1 large duck(s), approx. 3 kilos
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 m.-sized onion(s)
• 500 g mushrooms, fresh
• 250 g chestnuts
• 50 g pine nuts
• 50 g cranberries
• 3 tbsp rice (short grain rice)
• 2 tsp sweet paprika powder
• 10 g parsley, fresh
• Salt
• Pepper, freshly ground
• 1 tsp all-spice
• 1 tsp marjoram
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 100 ml white wine
• 100 ml water
• 10 m.-sized potatoes
• 4 large apples
• 100 ml orange juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp soup seasoning
• n. B. water

Instructions

Working time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 5 hours

without innards

Remove the giblets (if you like, you can fry them in a little oil and serve them separately). Wash, trim, and dry the duck, then season well with salt and pepper, inside and out. Prepare a spice mix of allspice, marjoram, thyme, and nutmeg. Rub the duck on all sides, inside and out, with this spice mix and let it soak for about 1 hour. While the duck is resting in its spice mix, prepare the stuffing. To do this, finely chop the onion and mushrooms. Chop the fresh parsley. Sauté the onion pieces in a little olive oil with a teaspoon of paprika. After about 2-3 minutes, add the mushrooms and the second teaspoon of paprika, season with salt and pepper, and mix. I find that frying mushrooms or onions together with paprika creates an interesting flavor. Fry the onions and mushrooms over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, until the water from the mushrooms has evaporated. Deglaze with the wine and immediately add the chestnuts (whole or halved), the pine nuts, the cranberries, the short-grain rice, the parsley, and the water, and simmer for about 15 minutes. The rice doesn’t need to be fully cooked. Taste and season with salt and pepper if desired. Stuff the duck with this delicious mixture and sew it up with kitchen string. If you don’t have kitchen string, you can simply use toothpicks. To do this, insert several toothpicks at short intervals across the opening. Place the duck breast-down in a large baking tray or roasting pan. DO NOT ADD OIL OR BUTTER, as a duck has a lot of natural fat. Roast in a preheated oven with fan at 160°C for a total of about 3 hours. Once the duck is in the oven, you can start on the side dishes. Peel the potatoes and apples. Dice the potatoes and cut the apples into very thick slices, as they cook faster. After 1 hour of roasting, turn the duck over. After 2 hours of roasting, add the potatoes and apples to the baking tray. If you prefer a fattier dish, you can baste the duck with its juices from time to time. If you prefer a lighter dish, you should repeatedly remove fat from the baking tray instead of pouring it over. Another option is to skim off the fat and only baste the boneier parts (wings and legs) once or twice to prevent them from drying out completely. Mix fresh orange juice with a teaspoon of honey well. 15-20 minutes before the end of the roasting time, briefly remove the duck from the oven and brush it all over with this orange and honey mixture. Place the duck on a wire rack instead of the baking tray so it becomes nice and crispy. If you want to serve it as a quick sauce, you can put 5-6 tablespoons of the roast juices into a saucepan, add a little water (depending on how much sauce you want), bring to a boil, and thicken with a little cornstarch until smooth. Season to taste with soup seasoning. Arrange the duck on a large platter. Serve the potatoes and apples in a bowl. A salad of your choice goes well with this to balance out this rich meal. Note: You should plan on approximately 4-5 hours to prepare this meal. This stuffed duck is time-consuming, but it’s a great choice for special occasions like Christmas. Plus, you don’t need any appetizers or elaborate desserts to go with it. To save a bit of time, you can cook and peel the chestnuts the day before, but don’t chop them up!