Baked duck with apples and prunes
Ingredients
- 1 pcs duck weighing about 2 kg;
- 5 pcs medium apples (700–800 g)
- 7-9 pcs pitted prunes (50–70 g)
- 1.5-2 teaspoons salt (15-20g)
- 0.5-1 teaspoon ground black pepper (2.5–5 g)
- 0.5 teaspoon thyme, or savory, dried (1 g)
- 1 teaspoon honey (7 g).
Instructions
- Rinse the duck thoroughly and pat dry. Remove any remaining feathers. Trim off the wing tips, remove the skin around the neck, and discard any abdominal fat.
- Wash the apples and prunes. Slice three apples thinly and cut two in half or quarters. Prepare an ovenproof baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 200–225 degrees Celsius.
- Mix salt, pepper, thyme and rub the duck inside and out with this mixture.
- Mix the apple slices with honey and add half of the prunes to the mixture. Stuff the bird with the prepared filling.
- Secure the belly skin with skewers or toothpicks.
- Place the stuffed bird on a baking sheet greased with sunflower oil or lined with foil.
- Place the remaining apple quarters or halves, as well as the prunes, around the duck.
- Cover the dish with foil. Place in the oven, preheated to 225 degrees Celsius.
- After an hour of baking, remove the foil and pour the resulting broth over the dish.
- Reduce the temperature to 180 degrees Celsius and roast the duck for another 15 minutes. Remove again and baste with broth. Repeat this step every 15 minutes.
- Bake the bird for 2.5–3 hours until golden brown. If the skin begins to blister, pierce it with a fork or toothpick.
Note
The dish is best cooked in the oven. Choosing the right bird is crucial: it should have a light yellow membrane with a thin, elastic texture, covered with duck down.
Serve the dish with lemon, vegetables and herbs.
If desired, you can make a sauce from baked apples, prunes, and the fat left in the pan after roasting. To do this, season the ingredients with pepper and blend with an immersion blender. Add a little of the duck liquid.
