North Croatian Roasted Duck Recipes

Steps:

• Clean and season the duck and put sage and thyme sprig inside.
• Put the duck into roasting pot (or "peku") and roast it on 190°C, occasionally basting with lemon juice and water.
• When it is almost done (about 100 minutes) take the duck out and slice it into serving pieces.
• Make sauce out of wine and honey and roasting drippings, add sliced apples, return the duck slices and roast until all ingredients are soft (or 20-30 min.).
• Serve with homemade flour gnocchi.

Steps:

• Clean the duck and salt only from inside 2-3 hours before roasting. Add one tablespoon of marjoram inside the duck to cover inside meat.
• Heat oven to 250°C If there is enough fat inside duck, remove this fat and melt it separately in small pot; add lard. Heat lard and pour over duck's skin (that way we close pores on skin).
• Immediately put the duck into hot oven, roast 20 minutes on 250°C and than reduce heat to 180°C Last 20 minutes roast again on 200°C
• Duck weight 2500 g need about 120 minutes roasting.
• Start cutting the duck after 15 minutes resting outside. Use this time to remove fat drippings you will need for "mlinci".

Steps:

• Cranberries can be used instead of cherries. Place all ingredients in a crockpot set on low, a covered roaster in a 200* oven, or a large heavy-bottomed pot on a very low burner, for approximately 12 hours, until the meat falls off the bone. To speed things up, start the crockpot on high or the other pots on a medium burner until the liquid begins to simmer, then cook as directed. If your pot doesn't have room for all the ingredients, the cabbage can be cooked separately, preferably in the pot liquor. Goes best with potatoes or noodles, and would probably be wonderful with spaetzle.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove giblets and neck from duck cavity and discard or reserve for another use. Cut off excess fat from duck cavity.
• Place duck, breast side down (wings up), on a rack in a roasting pan; add water to come just below the rack. Sprinkle duck with pepper and brush with a little soy sauce.
• Roast 30 minutes, undisturbed. Prick the back all over with point of a sharp knife, then flip bird onto its back. Sprinkle with pepper and brush with soy sauce again. Add a little more water to the pan if the juices are spattering (carefully--you don't want to get water on the duck).
• Roast 20 minutes, then prick the breast all over , and brush with soy sauce. Roast 10 minutes; brush with soy sauce. Roast 5 or 10 minutes more if necessary, or until duck is a glorious brown all over and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thigh measures at least 155 degrees. Let rest 5 minutes before carving and serving.

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 375°F.
• Coat a shallow roasting pan, and rack, with non-stick cooking spray.
• In a small bowl, combine the wine, honey, lemon juice, mustard and chili paste. Set aside.
• Rinse the duck and cut down the center of the back, to butterfly. Pat dry. Pierce skin several times with a metal skewer. (this helps drain fat as it cooks). Season with some of the salt and pepper.
• Place the celery, onion and carrot in the bottom of the roasting pan. Place rack over the vegetables and arrange the duck on the rack, skin side up. Place in oven.
• After 20 minutes, baste with the honey-chili mixture. Roast for a total of 1 1/2 to 2 hours, basting every 15 minutes.
• Remove the duck from the oven, place on a platter and keep warm.
• Combine the orange juice and cornstarch. Set aside.
• Strain the pan juices into a saucepan. Discard vegetables.
• Bring to a simmer, adding any leftover baste. Thicken with the cornstarch mixture and season with salt and pepper.
• Cut duck into pieces (legs, thighs, breasts and wings).
• Serve the duck with the sauce on the side.

Steps:

• Remove any fat from the cavity of the duck and pierce the skin of the legs and breast with the tip of a knife or the tines of fork (helps to render out the fat).
• Season the duck well with salt and pepper inside and out and let the duck sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before roasting.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Roast the duck on a rack in a roasting pan for 45 minutes, turning it from side to side every ten or so minutes and finishing with it breast side up.
• Pour off as much fat as possible (reserve it for other uses--like the best french fries there are).
• Add the cherries, the wine and the stock and roast for another 15 minutes--the duck should still be pink next to the bone.
• Allow the duck to rest 15 minutes before carving.
• To carve, remove the legs, slice the breast and reserve all the juices.
• Skim the juices again, taste for seasoning and serve the duck garnished with the cherries and the de-fatted pan juices.