Duck Tales

Posted by: CC Bakes


Duck always seem like somewhat of a treat. Whether it be confit, Peking or L’orange, it is a most succulent and deliciously rich meat, great for a roast, but really not as tricky to prepare as one might think.

This duck recipe calls for a whole duck, an orange stuck into it’s loins, some baby carrots, celery, onions and juniper berries (the same ones you make gin out of). You can get junipers dried or fresh, and if they are dried you will need to rehydrate them. Do this by soaking them liquid for 6 hours (we used Gran Marnier for its orange flavour).

The trick to attain the crispy skin is to soak the duck in brine overnight. This gives it the gold brown crispy texture as pictured below. For brine use 2 whole oranges, parsley, pepper corns, enough water to cover the duck and lots of salt.

After the duck has been soaked overnight, pat dry, heat the oven to high heat and place duck atop carrots, celery, onions and junipers. The duck is a very fatty bird you see, and all the juice with run down into the veggies to make them duck fat veggies. In fact, there will be so much fat in the baking dish you will need/want to drain the dish of the fat (you can use the duck fat later for other things such as chips or on top of pates). The duck with take a few hours too cook so in the meantime prepare your sides. Serve with creamy mashed potato and silverbeet with garlic.

Note: This recipe was adapted from Bridgette Hafner’s piece Duck and cover from July’s Gourmet Traveller.

Another delicious taste of what comes every Tuesday from CC Bakes.
Want to ask CC a question? ccbakes@theblackmail.com.au