I hope you all in the United States had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday. I sure did. Plus, it's a much needed break from all the freeway traffic of life. I made sure that this year I kept it simple. I didn't want to overwork myself too much in the kitchen. So I opted to make three dishes scrumptious dishes. First is the deliciously scrumptious duck. I'm cooking for a miniscule crowd, so roasting a big turkey wasn't much of an option. Plus, I don't really want to be eating a ton of leftovers after anyways. Th roasting time is typical of any bird. It's sort of a constant babysitting to baste and make sure it's cooking right. But usually it's worth it.
The two pics blow don't do this duck justice. But the end result is a juicy bird perfect for 2-4 people.
Roasted Duck
1 5 lbs duck
6 springs of fresh thyme
6 sprigs of fresh rosemary
5 leaves of sage
salt
pepper
1/4 c unsalted butter (Room Temp)
1/2 small sweet onion
4 Large Garlic cloves.
1 large carrot
1 red bell pepper
Finely chop the 3 sprigs of thyme, 3 springs of rosemary, sage, 1 garlic cloves and combine with the butter.
Cube chop the bell pepper, carrot and half the sweet onion and place it into the roasting pan with 2 whole garlic cloves.
Prep the duck. Remove the gibblets. Wash the duck with running cold tap water, inside and out. Pat it dry with a paper towel. Cut out the excess fat from the neck and opening.
Season the duck all over with salt and pepper including the cavity.
Stuff the onion, a garlic clove and bundled herbs into the cavity of the duck. Then spread the herb butter mixture all over and in between the skin and meet especially in the breast of the duck.
Tuck the tip of the wings into the bird to prevent it from burning. Using butchers twine, tie the legs together.
In the roasting pan, spread the onion, carrot and bell pepper at the bottom. Place the duck on top.
Preheat your oven to 450˚F. Roasted the duck uncovered for 15-20 minutes. Then baste with the melted butter and dripping from the pan. Lower the heat to 350˚F and baste every 10 minutes for 50 minutes. Overall cooking time roughly 1 hour 30 minutes. The leg should be at a temo of 180˚F and the breast at a 170˚F.
Let the duck sit for 5-10 minutes to let the juices redistribute throughout the bird.
Gravy
Take the drippings from the pan. Using a fat separator, take the main juices of the duck and blend it with 1 Tbsp of all purpose flour until slightly thickened.