I don’t make duck often, and I always feel like it needs something more than just a plain old bake in the oven. When I mentioned my hesitations to my sister-in-law, she insisted that I call her cousin who makes duck “like nobody else.”
There’s nothing like calling your sister-in-law’s cousin for a random recipe, but I did it. The recipe was not Pesachdik, but I played around with the ingredients, and we came pretty close. The sauce can be used for chicken, white fish, and turkey (and it goes really well with vanilla ice cream — I tried it!).
Ingredients
1 whole duck
1 Cortland or granny smith apple, peeled
1 orange, peeled
kosher salt and black pepper, for sprinkling
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp apricot jam
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup apple juice
1 cup sweet white or pink wine*
Cherry Sauce
1 15-oz can sour cherries
1/2 cup orange juice
1/3 cup apricot jam
2 Tbsp potato starch, dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tbsp fruit liquor
*use Bartenura Moscato or Malvasia as sweet white/rose wine.
Directions
Preheat oven to 400°F. Wash the duck and pat dry with paper towels. Place in a 9x13-inch roasting pan and place the apple and orange into the cavity. Sprinkle skin with kosher salt and pepper and rub with the garlic all over. Smear jam over skin. Cover well and bake for 1 hour.
Remove pan from oven and pour out all the liquid. Add orange juice, apple juice, and wine. Cover well. Lower oven temperature to 325° and bake for 1½ hours more. Uncover and cook for 20 more minutes. Before serving, pour warm cherry sauce over duck.
To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a pot and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook until thickened. You may want to break the cherries up while stirring.
Herzog Wine Pairing:
Enjoy this recipe with Baron Herzog Zinfandel - this ripe & fruity wine won't taste bitter with all the sweetness in the duck's sauce and will hold up to the rich & bold flavors of the duck.
