Dear Reader,
I find myself in Brisbane for personal business. I cooked a whole duck while here. I’ve never done a whole duck before—bits of a duck, yes; a whole one, no.
The duck had sat in a freezer for months. A home freezer means some temperature fluctuations, and being poultry, I’m thinking salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis.
To overcome this concern, I’m using a meat thermometer to ensure I reach an internal temperature of 76 °C in the thigh.
The duck took two days to defrost. After defrosting, I dried the skin with a paper towel. I then hung it by its neck over the kitchen sink for a while to get as much blood out as possible. Unfortunately, a new white shirt is now a wearing-at-home shirt.
Recipe
Equipment
- Meat thermometer
Ingredients
- Duck
- Salt
- Ginger marmalade
- French onion soup mix (low sodium)
- Cabbage
- Broccoli
Instructions
- Defrost the duck and make sure it’s properly defrosted. Cooking partly frozen poultry is a point of failure regarding the risk of food-borne infection.
- Dry the skin and hang it to let the blood and juices drain away.
- Salt the skin so you are dry brining the duck. Do this the night before you plan to cook it.
- Refrigerate the uncovered duck.
- Turn the oven on and set it to 190 °C (fan-forced).
- Place the meat thermometer into the thigh and put the duck on the middle rack.
- Cook the bird until the internal temperature has reached 76 °C.
- Rest the bird for at least 20 minutes before carving it.
- While the duck was in the oven, make the marmalade and French onion soup sauce.
- Boil a litre of water in a saucepan and add the soup mix.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of ginger marmalade to the soup and gently boil until it reduces and thickens to a loose syrup.
- Cut the cabbage and broccoli into small pieces and parboil for a few minutes.
- Sauté the cabbage and broccoli in a frying pan. Help the process with some wine and maybe a teaspoon of marmalade. Cook these vegetables to the desired firmness or tenderness. I like my cabbage and broccoli firm in my mouth, but others like them mushy. I was cooking for some people with poor dentition, so we went with a softer version.
- Carve the duck with a sharp knife and plate up. Drizzle some of the sauce over the duck and the cabbage.
- Give thanks to the Lord.
- Eat with a knife and fork.
Thoughts on the meal
I like eating duck. I like the fatty, oily, and gamey tastes and feel in my mouth. I also like eating the odd bits. I enjoy the uropygium and pygostyle of poultry. The uropygium is the fleshy protuberance, visible at the posterior end. It looks swollen because it contains the uropygial gland that produces preen oil. I also like eating the neck and dissecting out the œsophagus and trachea. Because of the limitations of available tools and photographic equipment, I couldn’t undertake the dissection on my plate like I have done previously.
The skin was crisp, and the meat was succulent. The marmalade and French onion soup reduction sauce accompanied the duck well. My dinner compatriots were pleased and I received 👍👍
Photographs
The duck looks amazing and lovely to hear it turned out great. Interesting to hear that it took two days to defrost. Then again, it’s a whole duck and been in the freezer for a while. I love duck. Don’t usually cook it and more so buy duck to eat when I feel like it. Duck breast is my favourite part, especially with skin 😊
Hi Mabel,
Thanks. I think my favourite duck is roast duck cooked Chinese style and cooked by an expert. 😆
Chinese roast duck cooked by an expert really does sound like the best kind of duck. No need for the hassle of cooking too 😄
I’m tempted to buy some duck tomorrow night to have for dinner. I probably won’t though. I’m enjoying my cooking routines at the moment.
Maybe stick to your cooking routines for now. Or maybe have a Friday treat – buy duck and jazz it up with what you have at home.
I’ve roasted whole duck many a time. The trouble is that one duck doesn’t go very far. I would say one duck for two people and if you have three or four people it is two ducks. A tasty way of doing them is to score the skin and rub in coarse salt and then Chinese Spice mix.
Hi Katharine,
Thanks. I like the idea of using a Chinese spice mix. I’ll try that next time.
Beautiful plating. I will take some breast meat and potatoes, please. #Nom
Hi Jules,
Thank you. 😊
That looks very good, and the accompaniments tasty! Plus, I have learned two words – uropygium and pygostyle.
Hi Emma,
Thanks. I’m pleased I’ve helped expand your vocabulary. 😊
Sincerely trust your visit home is not associated with anything adverse. Luv-a-duck has over a dozen simple ways to roast one of its feathered friends with utmost ease. The new shirt can present the same after a 20-minute soak in 1part white vinegar/2 parts water followed by a normal wash . . . hope you are able to enjoy your weekend . . .
Hi Eha,
Thanks for your comment and advice. I had already soaked and used acetic acid.
Very nice Gary your duck looks crispy but moist. The best feature o a well cooked duck to 76C. Enjoy your time in Brisbane.
Hi Merryn,
Thanks for your comment. I’m glad I’ve cooked many a duck breast and eaten a lot of duck so the colour of the flesh didn’t put me off. I imagine if people used to chicken cooked a duck for the first time and say how rich and red the flesh can be, they might think despite the temperature, it was undercooked.
The skin was fabulous and it rendered so much fat. The flesh was lovely and moist.