Roasted Duck with Roasted Vegetables

So the other day I was approached by Ott A’s to participate in her Duck "Iron Chef Challenge brought to us by Maple Leaf farms.  I thought what a great way to start cooking with Duck! To be honest with you I have cooked a lot of different meats such as venison, ostrich, buffalo and many other unusual meats.  So I thought this would be a great challenge for me. So I received the fabulous coupon in the mail and off to the local Ralph’s market,( A Kroger market in disguise), I go to and to my surprise the whole duck is in the freezer section. I then take it home and now I get to let it defrost in the refrigerator for about 2 days. Which works out okay because it is a three day weekend for me. I served this with Cranberry Tangerine Stuffing,  Beet Berry Relish it is so yummy and you will just love it and your kids will not realize that beets are inside.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

Roasted Duck

1) 5 to 6 pound Duck

5 to 6 tablespoons for cleaning

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Roasted Vegetables

6 Yukon gold potatoes

6 yams

12 carrots julienned

½ cup olive oil

So after it has defrosted I quickly clean out the cavity and remove the orange sauce package and the heart, neck and liver and I set aside so I could clean the duck. I quickly rinse in hot water and I salt the cavity making sure it is clean and pat dry and set aside.  I do not use the the extra in the cavity so i put in the refrigerator after I have bagged the inters in a plastic bag.

Now its time to stuff the bird

And don’t forget to stuff the neck too.

Now place on rack and salt and pepper duck plus don’t forget to add some olive oil so you get that crispy skin.

Place in oven at 350 degrees and tent for first two hours.

Next peel and cut all vegetables carrots to be julienne and potatoes and yams to be quartered. Next place in zip lock bag with olive oil and salt and pepper and make sure you don’t have any air in that bag so they do not brown or start to go bad. 

 About an hour and a half  into the cooking of the tented bird add to roasting pan.  This way they will not burn. Cook an addition 45 minutes remove tent and flip vegetables they should have started to caramelize by now.

Next cook until stuffing reaches 165 degrees. Make sure you have a good Meat Thermometer. I like All Clad's Instant Read Meat thermometer.

It took my duck about 3 hours to cook and it was 5.75 pounds, however it is best to use a meat thermometer.

Enjoy and Bon Appetit

Sheila Fretz