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Roast Duck, Fruit Dressing
Clean duck and roast until tender after filling with fruit dressing. Given amount fills two good-sized ducks. Do not pack too closely, as dressing swells. 2 apples 1/2 pound large stoned prunes 1/4 cup seeded raisins 1/4 cup cracker crumbs 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 egg Core, pare and slice apples, dropping them into salted water to keep them white. Pour boiling water over prunes, and when swollen remove stones. Add raisins, crumbs, sugar, salt and beaten egg to prunes, chopped fine, then add apples. Mix and stuff into the ducks before roasting them.
A fruit dressing of the kind that suits duck's fat, dark meat, written for cooks who did not need to be told how long a bird takes. The quantities are for two birds, so halve everything if you are roasting one.
- No oven temperature givenRoast the ducks at 325-350F. A 4-5 lb duckling takes roughly 2 to 2 1/2 hours at that heat; because the birds are stuffed, judge doneness by temperature rather than the clock.
- Stuffed birds need a thermometerThe dressing contains raw egg and sits in the coolest part of the bird. Take the center of the stuffing to 165F, checking through the cavity opening, and the thigh joint to at least 175F, which duck wants anyway for tender meat.
- Pack loosely, as the book saysThis is the hinge of the recipe. The crumbs and dried fruit absorb rendering fat and juice and expand considerably; a tightly packed cavity will burst the skin and, worse, will not reach a safe temperature at the center.
- PrunesBuy pitted prunes and skip the stone removal. Pour boiling water over them to plump, drain well, then chop fine, or the dressing will be wet.
- Cracker crumbsUnsalted soda crackers crushed fine; the 1/4 cup called for is a small handful of crackers. Plain dry breadcrumbs work but bind less lightly; do not use seasoned crumbs, as the dressing is meant to taste of fruit.
- Salted water for the applesA teaspoon of salt in a quart of cold water is enough to keep cut apples pale. Drain them and pat dry before mixing in, since the water will otherwise loosen the dressing.
- Duck fat and skinPrick the skin over the breast and thighs before roasting and pour off the fat from the pan two or three times. Nothing in the original says so, but without it a stuffed duck sits in an inch of grease and the skin stays flabby.
- YieldTwo ducks with this dressing serve six to eight, allowing for how little meat a duck carries relative to its size. Any dressing that will not fit can be baked in a covered dish for about 45 minutes.