Recipes

Duck with Cherries

An updated version of roast duck, served chilled with jelled cherry sauce.

4 pound duck, cleaned, giblets removed and set aside
Salt for rubbing the duck
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 wineglass red wine
1 cup water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Sugar to taste
1/2 pound Bing cherries

Directions

Rub the duck inside and out with salt to season it. Place in a large casserole dish.

Arrange the carrots, onion and giblets around the duck. Sprinkle the duck and vegetables with the garlic, marjoram and basil. Pour in the wine and about 1 cup water, and add salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

Cover the casserole and bake in a preheated 350º oven for 2 hours or until the duck is tender. Remove the casserole from the oven. Uncover and pour off the liquid and vegetables into a large saucepan. Put the duck onto a plate and set aside to cool. Boil the contents of the saucepan over a high flame until reduced by half. Strain the liquid into a small bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Discard the vegetables.

Meanwhile, stem and pit the cherries and put into a bowl. Take the chilled liquid out of the refrigerator and remove the fat that has formed on the surface. Reheat the remaining liquid until not quite boiling. Pour over the cherries and chill in the refrigerator until the sauce has turned to jelly. Remove from the refrigerator, unmold from the bowl and slice. Serve the duck cold, surrounded by slices of the jellied sauce in which the cherries are embedded.

Serves 4