Roasted Duck
Roasting duck without the skin significantly reduces its fat content and calorie count, as most of the fat is stored in the skin. This makes it a lighter option compared to cooking with the skin intact. When prepared skinless, duck breast has a fat content comparable to that of a boneless, skinless chicken breast. However, to avoid dryness, you would need to use careful cooking techniques to keep the meat tender and moist. The Complete Housekeeper, published in 1803, recommends such a preparation. The skin of the duck is often the tastiest part, but in this version, we’re instructed to remove the skin and baste the meat in butter. What we have is still flavorful, featuring a simple blend of pepper, salt, and sage. The duck is roasted and browned with a touch of flour and butter for extra richness. As is typical in older recipes, the quantities are left for us to measure. Since this is the case, season to your own liking; you can also make a gravy with the juices from the duck, if you add a bit of flour and cook together.
- 1 medium-sized duck (about 8 lbs)
- Pepper
- Salt
- Sage
- 1 onion, shredded
- Flour
- Butter
Kill, pick, and draw your ducks, scald the feet, take off their skin, turn their feet back; season the inside of them with pepper, salt, sage, and onion shred fine, skewer and spit them, singe them, and lay them down to a quick fire; dust them with flour, and baste them with butter. A middle-sized duck will take twenty minutes,—a large one, half an hour; let them be of a nice light brown, and serve them up hot, with some brown gravy under them, for a second course.