A Resolution Recipe

[madbaker]

Or, what to do with all those elderberries part II. Probably last in the series as I don't have any more fresh berries. Lots of jars of syrup, though.

I didn't do a new recipe last week, but with everything that's gone on I gave myself a pass. Time to restock all the freezer dinner bases: sausages, meatballs, crab cakes... okay, that last was our breakfast Sunday morning, but still.

I also didn't get to cook a French dinner - but I made a cake from Baking with Julia, and I used the Kitchenaid that the wife's father had bought, so it was a good way to remember both of them. (Yummy, too: yellow cake with apricot jam, schlag, and the wife decorated the sides with toasted almonds.)

Anyway, to the recipe.
Roast Duck with Elderberry Sauce

2 Barbary ducks, 1.5 kg each
4 sprigs thyme
2 oranges
1 cup red wine
1/4 cup elderberry syrup

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Wipe ducks clean inside and out, then stuff with thyme and half and orange each, squeezing the orange slightly inside the ducks. Prick the duck skins and rub with salt. Roast for 1.5 hours.
Remove ducks and drain excess fat, leaving dark juice in the pan. Add the wine to deglaze the pan, bring to a boil, and reduce by half. Grate and juice the second orange; add its zest and juice to the wine along with the elderberry syrup. Reduce until you like the flavor, then spoon it over the duck as you serve.

Comments: Okay, I didn't have time to roast whole ducks so I got two duck breasts for the four of us. That worked pretty well and only needed about 40 minutes roasting time. I also chopped up potatoes and had those in the bottom of the pan to soak up some of the yummy grease and juices.

I liked the tart, rich flavor of the elderberry sauce - its astringency cut the duck grease nicely. I'd make a bigger batch and reduce it farther next time, though.

Comments

Very nice..

[blkeagl.livejournal.com]

Ir reminds me of a duck recipe I did for our first night in our own place when we got married (need to do it again in our new home).

The sauce/reduction was actually made using a particular zinfandel wine we'd picked up in mendocino that was so jammy, it was more like berries than wine and there was also kona coffee in the mix.

Got the recipe from the Kona Coffee Festival in Kona when we were on our honeymoon. Picked up the book, but I believe this recipe was from online, one of the winners for that year (2002).

Re: Very nice..

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

That sounds tasty! The two ladies living here abhor coffee, though.

Re: Very nice..

[blkeagl.livejournal.com]

You couldn't really identify the coffee in this reduction as coffee though... unless you knew.

I am remembering more now.. the reduction was a jammy (rasberry) zinfandel, rasberry jam, (rasberries were in there twice, and I believe the second set was fresh), a cup of strong brewed kona and various spices.

I'll dig it up if you're curious. I think I still have some of the reduction in the freezer awaiting reuse.

[aastg.livejournal.com]

Wowee, I'll bet that was good...duck is GOOOOOOD. So, is there any chance you could post the cake recipe, too? (Apricot jam and schlag together? Oh YUM.)

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

It was a basic yellow cake... I'll see if I can remember to bring it Saturday, but it wasn't anything real fancy. The jam was homemade, though. 8)

Another elderberry recipe idea...

[blkeagl.livejournal.com]

...would be to make wine. I just pulled a bottle of an elderberry honey wine out of the cellar to try last night. Trying to figure out what to have it with right now.

Elderberry wine

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I've avoided that, partly because I don't brew and partly because I've played Teddy in a production of Arsenic and Old Lace. No one would drink my homemade elderberry wine - they'd fear being dragged down into the basement/Panama.