Baked duck

Hello dear read.cash! I hope you found some free time to read and evaluate my article today. This is how I would like to begin my entry... Why do I address to read.cash and not to you? It's simple, it is he who brings us all together as a family, gathers for reading new posts, arguments, participation in various contests and so on. Several times I tried to write something, and then. everything was left hanging in the draft. Maybe this post will be there too. I decided to publish it, though. To be honest, I want to tell you a lot about my life, to complain (as usual), to get a dose of sympathy and support, to brag, to share the good and not so good. But I won't! Recently I realized that I am read by people I know, and even people I don't know at all. I am a person whose life is spent most of the day in four walls, who is not bored alone, and it really "strains" me. An unpleasant feeling has emerged that I am being watched, and it is no longer possible to say all the things you could say before without thinking. Also, for the first time in my life, I was disappointed in people. And for the hundredth time, I realized how much I love being alone... and cats and dogs. Cats more.... Because I don't have dogs, but I do have cats.))))

And now for the... the duck. The holiday is almost upon us, maybe someone could use the recipe 😉 It's nothing out of the ordinary. But as we all know the simpler the better. The main thing is that the duck should be soft and not dry. And for the result to be exactly like that, it is important to buy a good bird initially, but such a bird runs in my yard, well, and cook it correctly.

Oh, what a wonderful and delicious bird it is! And that's how it is - a chicken, no matter how you look at it, has the most delicious meat in the legs and wings, while a duck has the most delicious meat in the breast. Although, legs are also good if well-cooked. And for that, you have to simmer a little longer. You have to simmer it on a low heat. But I don't want to get distracted.

We should:

Duck.

Salt.

Freshly ground pepper.

Juniper berries.

Onions.

Sauerkraut.

Fresh cabbage.

Prunes.

Vegetable oil, or duck fat.

Honey.

Mustard.

Apples.

Quince.

Cinnamon.

Potatoes (optional).

I also used candied pears (also optional).

Cooking:

I cooked the duck in three steps. That's how it turned out. Two is enough - marinating and cooking. But I got some nuances, that's why I mention that there were a little more steps.

The duck is washed and placed in a deep baking pan, in which it is then cooked.

Mix and grind in a mortar juniper berries, pepper and salt. With this mixture rub the duck on the outside and inside and leave for 24 hours to marinate. Cover the duck with foil and send it to stew in the oven on low heat. I prefer to simmer in the oven at 120-110 degrees, so it takes me two, or even three hours, but the meat is wonderfully tender and juicy, and you can do as you like.

Boil the potatoes until half cooked and cooled. And here's the tricky part. Since the duck was slightly stewed the first day, and I left the main cooking for another day, I left it in the baking tray in the cold. And all the fat from the duck, which had melted out of it, solidified. I took it off carefully. Thus got a great bonus - the cabbage on which the duck was cooked was not too greasy. I used the fat to fry the onions and subsequently the cabbage. And also for making the crust. Thus no additional fat was used. The onions were to be sautéed. As I wrote above, I did it in duck fat.

Soak the prunes.

Squeeze and chop the cabbage. Add to the onions and sauté together until the color changes. Shred the fresh cabbage. Yes, I take either 50/50 fresh and sauerkraut, or a little more sauerkraut. But I like sauerkraut stew. Once the sauerkraut is sauteed with the onions and darkened, add the fresh cabbage to it.

When the cabbage is almost done, season it with cumin and pepper.Add chopped prunes.

This is the duck, which had already stewed the day before. You see, I took off all the fat, not much of it, but I left the juice and put the cabbage in it. Yes, that's not the juice that came out of the duck, though that too. But before I put it to simmer, I poured a glass or two of water on the tray.

Now we have to make a dressing. To do this, mix a little duck fat (it is fusible and melts at room temperature), honey, madera, salt, mustard and pepper. Everything to taste, so I do not give proportions. Coat the duck with it. There should be something left over.

Cut apples and quinces into pieces. Sprinkle with cinnamon, let soak a little, assimilate the cinnamon. Mix with the kale. Stuff the duck with part of this mixture.

Place the rest on the baking tray where the duck was cooked, directly in the juice. I also dipped the potatoes in the duck coating. And put them on top of the cabbage. And I put candied pears in between.

Put the tray with the cabbage in the oven below, the duck on the rack above, and let the juice and fat from the duck drip into the cabbage and soak it up. This, by the way, is the second bonus I got from cooking in three stages, since I didn't have to fish the hot duck out of the tray to put it on the rack. I made the fire low so that the potatoes would be cooked and browned, and the duck would not burn on top. But basically all I had to do was to cook the potatoes and brown the duck, which I coated a couple more times.

I think it's done.  It looks quite festive. If you stick a skewer in the leg and the light juice comes out and the skewer enters the meat easily, the duck is ready. We take it out of the oven, cover it tightly with foil, let it rest for 20 minutes, before serving. I serve it sliced into portions, on a large platter, with fruit or vegetables, as you like.

You can also serve in portions, so the breast.

So is the foot.

Enjoy!

Greetings to all of you who with the upcoming winter vacations read me, who care about me in some way. I wish you all strength and good luck, my own dose of good luck in our lives, which you certainly deserve. Good luck👋

I thank God for his help in writing this article, and you, dear readers, praise him if your reading has been helpful to you.

I want to know your opinion.

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https://read.cash/@Belozoriana/stuffed-cabbage-rolls-with-bacon-and-minced-meat-in-a-tagine-72c8463f

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