Roast Crown Of Duck With Young Turnips And Green Olives Recipes

SLOW ROAST DUCK

Steps:

• Set your oven to 325°F. Using a needle or a sharp knife point, prick the skin of the duck all over -- but be sure to not pierce the meat itself, only the skin. This lets the fat render out and will help crisp the skin. Pay special attention to the back, the flanks, and the very front of the breast.
• Rub the cut lemon all over the duck and stick it inside the cavity. Liberally salt the bird; use a little more salt than you think you need. Stuff the duck with the herbs. Let the bird sit out for about 30 minutes to come to room temperature, while the oven heats up.
• When you are ready to roast, put the duck in an iron frying pan or other ovenproof pan and surround it with root vegetables. Set the pan in the oven. Small ducks (wood ducks, wigeon, teal, ruddies, etc.) only need 40 minutes in the oven. If you are roasting mallards or a typical, store-bought Pekin duck, you will want to increase the roasting time to 90 minutes. A goose may take as long as 2 hours. After the allotted time, take the pan out of the oven and set the ducks on a cutting board to rest. Spoon any fat that has accumulated over the vegetables and salt them well. If the veggies are ready to eat, remove them. If there is a lot of excess fat, spoon it off.
• Now increase the heat to 450°F. When the oven hits this temperature, return the birds to the oven and roast them for up to 30 more minutes, or until the skin is crisp. The reason you take the bird out of the oven is because a) the resting time helps redistribute the juices in the bird midstream, and b) you are crisping skin without totally overcooking the duck by only returning it to the oven when it is hot.
• Remove from oven and let the birds rest. Small ducks need 5 minutes resting time, large ducks 10 minutes, geese 15.

ROAST CROWN OF DUCK WITH YOUNG TURNIPS AND GREEN OLIVES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
• Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a roasting tray, then sear the breasts of the duck crowns for about five minutes. Transfer to a plate and prick the skin (not deeply) of both duck crowns.
• Mix the remaining oil with the Chinese five spice, brush this over the breasts and return the crowns to the roasting tray, reserving and refrigerating any juices on the plate.
• Blanch the turnips for a few minutes in boiling, salted water, drain, pat dry and place in the roasting tray with the crowns.
• Roast the crowns and turnips for 10 minutes, then add the olives and roast for a further 5-10 minutes.
• Remove the crowns, olives and turnips from the oven and set aside in a warm place to rest.
• Add the shallot to the oil in the tray and cook gently to brown them.
• Pour off any excess fat. Add the wine and heat to reduce in volume by half.
• Transfer the wine and shallots to a clean pan, add the stock and heat until the volume is reduced by two thirds.
• Strain through a sieve into a clean pan, season and beat in the butter to make a sauce. Take the breasts off the bone. Add the turnips, olives, reserved juices from step two and the chives to the sauce and bring to the boil.
• For the salad, mix together the beans and shallot. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients, season to taste and use this to dress the salad.
• To serve, cut the breasts in two, serve with turnips and sauce poured around and salad alongside.

CRISP ROAST DUCK WITH OLIVES

Steps:

• This recipe yields a succulent roast duck, every morsel of which is tender and tasty, and as a by-product, a good half pint of duck fat. No cook worth her salt would waste a scrap of this precious substance, which is kept in a pot in the fridge and used for frying and flavoring.
• Trim any flaps of fat on the duck, and pull out any lumps of fat tucked inside. Rinse and dry the duck, then prick lightly all over with a skewer (about 20-30 times), trying to pierce the skin but not the flesh underneath. Rub all over with salt and sprinkle some inside the cavity.
• Put on a rack and roast upside down for 3 hours at 250° F (200° F convection). Drain the fat into a bowl, set the duck the right way up and increase the heat to 350° F (325° F convection) for 45 minutes longer, till nicely browned. Leave to stand for 15 minutes, loosely covered with foil.
• Reduce the chicken stock with the tomato and herbs to a saucelike consistency, then strain into a clean pan. Simmer the olives in water for 2 minutes to temper the flavor, then strain and stir into the sauce.
• Cut the duck into pieces and serve with the sauce.