# New years duck.



## alleyyooper (Jul 6, 2007)

A family tradition is having duck for New years day dinner (lunch to city slickers, supper is the evening meal.).

Duck is best eaten rare. The juices run red, not clear, more like a beautiful juicy red steak. The meat itself is a deep garnet red. 
Ingredients
Whole duck(s), 
Olive oil
Coarse salt
Rosemary
Onion
Apple
Whole Cloves
Dry Sherry
Cream

Method

1 Preheat oven to 450°F. Inspect duck to see if there are any remaining pin feathers, if so, remove them. Rinse the duck with water. Thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. Lightly stuff duck with a sprig of rosemary, an apple slice with a few cloves poked in them to hold them in place, and a small wedge of onion.

2 Slather the duck inside and out with olive oil. Sprinkle all sides of the duck with coarse salt. Lay, breast up, on a roast rack in a roasting pan. Place in the middle rack of the oven. Immediately lower the heat to 425°F.

* ***Cooking times depend on the variety of the duck.*
Meat thermometers are hardly useful with the small fowl because there isn't enough flesh to put the thermometer into. But if you have an instant read thermometer and can get a good read, my pal Hank suggests cooking until the duck reaches an internal temp of 135°F. If you error on the rare and underdone side, you can always put the bird back in the oven for a few more minutes if it isn't done enough.

If you aren't using a meat thermometer, to test for doneness you can take the bird out of the oven and cut a part of it with the tip of a sharp knife. Note that the juices will run RED, and the meat will be quite red. You want the meat to be rare' it should look like a rare (not raw) steak. 3 Remove the duck from the oven and remove to a separate rack or plate to rest, breast side down, for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the stuffing in the cavity before serving.

[b***]Because you can use this recipe on wild ducks the size does mater in cook times.[/b]

 Al


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

Looks like a good recipe. I assume the ducks have the skin on.


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## alleyyooper (Jul 6, 2007)

Yup that is why you have to make sure all the pin feathers are gone.

 Al


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## walleyecandy (Aug 6, 2012)

Always cook wild game to a minimum of 165 degrees.

Botulism 
and
Salmonella 
are
found 
in 
ducks!


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