Roasted duck dish has always been considered a very festive and elegant.
The main decoration of the Christmas table is considered to be a duck. Yes, and any other festive meal this dish will make a chic, elegant and unique. How to choose and cook the bird? What are the characteristics and whether there are certain tricks in this seemingly simple process?
Back to contents
How to choose the duck?
Depending on where it will be purchased poultry carcasses, especially dependent choice. Of course, if the duck meat bought in the supermarket, the only question is at the desired size and weight of the duck. The larger and heavier carcass, the more fat will cook the bird. Also, when buying packaged duck in the store should pay attention to what she was sold with giblets or without. Dutch and Polish imported carcasses are typically embedded inside a bag of giblets, which is very profitable and convenient, as they can be used for cooking soup and other dishes.
Much more complex features a selection of duck on the market. Here it is necessary to have some knowledge that bought the bird was high quality and delicious in the end. Fresh bird duck should have a yellowish tint, and clearly visible body fat. Identify possible fatness on the amount of fat under the tail. Too fat when cooking duck will have a bad taste, and therefore better to choose not too thick bird, but not thin, which can be rigid and dryish. The skin should be thick and sticky, and the meat on the cut, unlike chicken have a bright red color.
Another important point in choosing a bird - pay attention to the proportion of the carcass. The value is the length of the legs. If they are disproportionately short in relation to the body, so that when growing duck stuffed with hormones and consequently in the preparation of meat can give taste of drugs. And in its composition such meat hardly useful for the organism.
Well, of course, the carcass is simply to smell. Odor in any case should not be stale or acidic. If acid gives, then soaked carcass, as the bird was sick or the meat had already begun to deteriorate. All these simple knowledge of the election will help purchase healthy and fresh duck carcass.
Back to contents
Features cooking
So, I bought a duck, it is now necessary to properly handle and prepare for frying in a pan.
There are several distinctive features. Unlike chicken cook duck difficult, as it was originally fatter and tougher and, moreover, has a very specific strong odor.
To start the carcass recommended opal. Duck feathers and hemp hard on them almost always remain. Therefore, do not be lazy once again to burn the bird on fire, you can make the skin smooth and soft duck, which, of course, affect the taste of the finished dish. When cutting is recommended to cut and remove the duck tail. It is the preparation has a very strong odor that not everyone will like it.
Further pre-prepared meat should be slightly pomarinovat, from this it becomes softer, gentler and, accordingly, the cooking time will decrease somewhat. The marinade is absolutely simple. Duck is necessary to rub with salt and pepper, coat with mayonnaise and let stand in a sauce for half an hour or more. Thus prepared meat is completely ready for the process of preparation, will just have to choose a desired and affordable way - whether it is a la carte pieces of fried or fried the whole carcass.
Duck stewed with apples
For this method of preparation of the carcass is cut into portions. It should be salt and pepper and leave to marinate for a while. At this time, cleared large onions and cut into small cubes. Similarly, Shinko couple of small peeled apples sour varieties.
In a frying pan heat the need few spoonfuls of vegetable oil. Many casting is not necessary, because the duck itself is very oily and in the process of frying heated with a sufficient amount of fat. Prepared pieces of duck roasted until a beautiful golden brown. It does not take too much time and check on the softness of the meat and roasted completely superfluous, since it is only a preliminary stage of the preparation of this dish.
It has become a golden bird poured in a pan onions and apples. All this is fried for five minutes until the fruit and vegetable mass softens. Be sure that the sauce is burnt started. Once the onions a little browns and apple juice will start up, the pan should be topped up glass of broth and close the lid to put out a dish for 20 minutes followed by the addition of 200 g of sour cream, salt and pepper, all mixed thoroughly so that the pieces of duck completely soaked formed sauce. Dish languish on low heat for another half an hour.
On a side dish to the duck cooked so you can submit mashed potatoes or boiled potatoes tubers. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and pour the sauce in which the finished pieces of poultry. Duck meat turns out very tender, tasty and not too greasy.
Bird, fried whole
The principle of an intact carcass frying in a pan in many ways similar to the above method of preparation portions. Is that the time will take a few more. For this taken gutted duck rubbed with a mixture of salt and pepper inside and out, if desired, coated with mayonnaise and pickled so at room temperature for about an hour.
Duck can be cooked just like that, but you can stuff with. For the stuffing selected sour fruits: apples, lemons, oranges, plums and so on. For example, take the traditional stuffing recipe with apples. Why the sour fruit? Due to the fact that the duck meat is very fatty and the final dish, respectively, it turns bold and too heavy for digestion, fruit acids partly mask the taste of fat and neutralize a certain amount of animal fat, which is very beneficial effect on the digestion of food.
So, cut into large chunks apples stacked inside the carcass and the skin is sewn with thread or contracted toothpicks. Lemon can be cut in half and put one piece halves. On a hot skillet fried first from the back until golden brown. Then he turns over and roasted duck on his stomach. Next broth topped up to the top, close the lid and extinguished about an hour until cooked, occasionally need to add fluid.
When the meat is almost ready, you should take care about the aesthetic form of finished culinary dishes. To do this, ready-made duck is coated on all sides with a mixture of sweet and sour couple of tablespoons of apple juice and spoon any jam. Next carcass fry over high heat in hot fat on both sides for a few minutes to give a crisp golden brown.
Garnish sauce and features Serve
But not enough to fry the meat. It is still necessary to prepare an appropriate garnish and sauce. And besides, beautiful to the table to make this delicious dish surprise and impress guests and loved ones. The classic side dish for roast duck is considered potatoes. It can be mashed or boiled potatoes as whole, as stated above.
If the duck is roasted whole, it is laid out in the center of a large platter, surrounded by stacked boiled potato tubers. All this watered sauce and sprinkle fresh or frozen herbs. If served with mashed pursed, it can be nice to put a circle, forming a side potato. Garnish with a side dish can be ketchup and mayonnaise.
Portions of duck better serve once in the dishes, putting the side of a piece of duck in the middle of a side dish and watering sauce. To roast duck most suitable sweet and sour sauce that perfectly complements the taste of any meat dishes. Preparing it simply. To do this, the chopped onion and a clove of garlic a bit Passer in butter, topped up with a glass of dry wine and a spoonful of apple cider vinegar. The main highlight of this sauce - half a glass of orange or pineapple juice. The entire mass is salted to taste, and languishing on low heat for 15 minutes. For the density, you can add a tablespoon of starch.
Of course, the preparation of duck in a frying pan - the process is quite complicated and long, but the result is worth the effort. These simple recipes will be useful to people who want to be pampered duck meat, but are unable to cook the bird in the traditional way on a baking sheet in the oven or in a special utyatnitsu. Bon Appetit.
