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Roasted And Braised Duck with Sauerkraut

Here’s a simple procedure for duck in which you first roast the bird and then braise it briefly. It keeps even the breast meat moist while making the legs ultratender. There are many options for the braising medium, but none provides more complementary flavor with less work than sauerkraut. The result is a moist bird with a sauce that doubles as a side vegetable. Although the cooking takes some time, you can practically ignore the duck as it roasts; if the oven temperature is moderate, it will brown more or less automatically and render its fat at the same time.

Cooks' Note

The best sauerkraut is sold in bulk, but you can buy perfectly good sauerkraut in jars or plastic bags in the supermarket. Just make sure the only ingredients are cabbage and salt. Inferior sauerkraut contains preservatives, and that sold in cans tastes tinny.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1 duck (about 4 pounds)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups sauerkraut, rinsed (see Note)
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 cup dry white wine or water
2 bay leaves

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 375°F. Prick the duck all over with a fork, then sprinkle it with salt and pepper and put it in a large, deep ovenproof skillet or Dutch oven that can later be covered. Roast the duck, checking occasionally to make sure it is browning steadily, for about 1 1/2 hours. (If the duck is barely browning, increase the heat by 50 degrees; if it seems to be browning too quickly, reduce the heat slightly.) At that point it will be nicely browned and will have rendered a great deal of fat; pour off all but a few tablespoons of the fat and transfer the pan to the top of the stove. Don’t worry if the duck does not appear to be fully cooked.

    Step 2

    Scatter the sauerkraut around the duck, then sprinkle it with paprika, moisten it with the wine, and tuck the bay leaves in there. Turn the heat to low and cover. Simmer for about 15 minutes, then stir and put some of the sauerkraut on top of the duck.

    Step 3

    Cook for another 15 minutes or so, until the duck is quite tender. Carve and serve.

  2. Variations

    Step 4

    As everyone knows from sad experience, a single duck provides skimpy servings for four people. You can make up for this with side dishes, but there are other solutions as well:

    Step 5

    Braise a piece of slab bacon and/or smoked or fresh pork along with the duck, after adding the sauerkraut; you’ll have to increase the cooking time a bit.

    Step 6

    Peel and cut up some potatoes (or carrots, parsnips, or turnips) and cook them along with the duck and sauerkraut.

    Step 7

    Finally, you can simply cook more duck—start with 2 ducks or use a couple of duck legs or, best of all, sear a duck breast and serve the slices separately.

From Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes From the New York Times by Mark Bittman Copyright (c) 2007 by Mark Bittman Published by Broadway Books. Mark Bittman is the author of the blockbuster Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.
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