Roasted Duck

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.

Happy New Year and A Roasted Chicken

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!

In tagalog: Manigong Bagong Taon!
 

I'll keep this one short and sweet as I know we're all a bit bleary eyed from all the New Year's celebrations. Welcome to 2010!!! Here's to a prosperous new you to you all with any new beginnings and many happy moments. Also, more fun food adventures to be had by us all. So today let's eat up and be merry.

I had duck for Thanksgiving and now I've moved on to roasting whole chicken for Christmas. I made a simple herb butter again for this with an addition of the paprika. Eventually I'm going to end up roasting every kind of meat there is. I would barbecue, but I don't have an outdoor grill. Ol' Georgie just wouldn't cut it.I did that trick where you stuff some of the butter under the skin. Boy, did that help with the roasting. I had myself a nice tender juicy chicken with a slightly crisp skin.

Roast Chicken

1 whole chicken

seasoning:
1 small sweet onion - halved or quartered
1/4 c unsalted butter - room temp
1 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary - chopped
1 Tbsp fresh thyme - chopped
1 Tbsp Emeril's Chicken Rub - optional
2 Tbsp paprika - plus extra if needed
salt
pepper


Mix together the butter, chopped thyme, chopped rosemary, and paprika. Set aside

Clean out the chicken of all the gibblets and wash thoroughly. Pat the bird dry with some paper towel. Remove some of the excess fat around the neck and butt area.

Season all sides -- including the inside-- of the bird with salt and pepper. Then rub the chicken with the butter. Reserve 1 teaspoon to stuff inside. Put a couple teaspoons under the skin of the breast as well. Cut the thin connective tissue holding the skin and the meat together to access.

Stuff the bird with the onion and the fresh rosemary and thyme sprigs as well as  the reserved herb butter. Tie the legs together and tuck the butt underneath. and tie the wings against the body as well. Use butcher twine. Sprinkle the optional Emeril's chicken rub over as well as add more paprika.

Place the bird on a roasting pan. Let the bird sit for at least half an hour. During this time preheat your oven to 400˚F. Roast for

Occasionally baste it with its own juices to get the skin nice and crisp.