How to cook delicious duck with apples: 6 cool secrets

Duck with apples is a traditional Christmas and New Year dish. Nourishing, hot and very appetizing, it is an indispensable guest on our holiday table. And not only because it is delicious, but also because it is very healthy, because duck meat contains many useful substances: protein, B vitamins, zinc, phosphorus, selenium and many others.

Duck with apples also has a symbolic meaning for us. Its presence on the New Year's or Christmas table means peace, prosperity and family well-being. So don't forget to prepare this wonderful dish for the holiday table. And we will share with you the secrets from our own culinary piggy bank - we are sure that with them your Christmas duck will be especially appetizing and delicious.

To prepare a classic duck with apples, it is best to use a bird weighing 2-2.3 kilograms - it has enough meat and is not too fatty. It is best if you managed to buy a chilled carcass - there will be no problems with it. But a frozen duck is also perfect, the main thing is to defrost it correctly. To do this, move it from the freezer to the refrigerator for a few hours, and then continue defrosting at room temperature until completely defrosted.

Advice from Kitchenmag: Do not use cold water or a microwave to defrost, otherwise the meat will lose its flavor and become dry and tough.

As a rule, ducks are sold in supermarkets and markets already completely plucked. But upon closer inspection, you can notice remaining hairs and feather stumps, which must be removed. To do this, hold the bird over a switched-on burner, and then pluck the stumps with any suitable tweezers.

If you bought a duck with giblets, be sure to take them out. Also cut out the coccygeal glands from the rump (duck tail), which give the dish an unpleasant specific taste.

Before roasting, cut off the outer phalanges of the wings and turn them from the breast to the back - this way the edges of the wings will not burn, and the bird itself will look neat and aesthetically pleasing.

Advice from Kitchenmag: If you don't have tweezers at hand and can't remove the remaining feather stumps, roll the carcass in flour, wipe it with a damp towel with a little effort, and then rinse it with clean water - there won't be a trace of the stumps left.

Duck meat has a rather specific taste. To compensate for this small drawback (by the way, quite controversial - many people like the taste of duck meat), marinate the carcass or rub it with spices. Wine, apple cider vinegar, lemon, pomegranate or orange juice are excellent marinades. But as for spices, the following go best with duck meat: ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, oregano and all types of pepper.

Advice from Kitchenmag: If you decide to use several spices, do not rub them one by one on the duck. Mix a small amount of spices in a mortar, grind together with salt and let stand for a while so that the tastes and aromas mix. And only then rub the duck evenly with the resulting aromatic mixture inside and out.

Late domestic apple varieties are best suited for stuffing the Christmas duck - they are quite hard and are perfectly preserved until the New Year holidays. An important nuance: choose apples with a noticeable sourness - they will not only give the meat a special taste and aroma, but also, thanks to the acid they contain, will help break down subcutaneous fat.

Advice from Kitchenmag: To prevent the apples from turning brown, sprinkle them with lemon juice, and to give them an original taste and a special Christmas aroma, sprinkle them with salt and cinnamon.

To prevent the duck skin from bursting during stuffing, do not stuff the bird to the brim with stuffing. In addition, if you pack it so tightly, all your apples will eventually turn into mush, so leave some free space when stuffing. After finishing stuffing, sew the carcass with a coarse thread using stitches through the edge or pin the skin with toothpicks - this is faster and easier.

Advice from Kitchenmag: You can use more than just apples to stuff the Christmas duck. You can add raisins, pears or dried apricots. And the author of this article adds tangerine slices and cinnamon to the apples.

A duck weighing 2.5 kilograms should be cooked for about 2.5-3 hours at a temperature of 80-90 degrees. At the same time, every half hour you need to open the oven and pour the released juice and fat over the bird. But in any case, you need to periodically check the readiness of the duck so that it does not become too dry. It is very easy to do: pierce the carcass with a knife in the thickest place - if the released juice is transparent, then the duck is ready.

Advice from Kitchenmag: If you want your Christmas duck to be less fatty, place it on a bed of apples or rice when roasting – they will absorb most of the rendered fat. Naturally, you shouldn’t use the bed as a side dish.