Stuffed Roasted Ducks
One of the things I love best about visiting home (besides the fact that it's in South Florida and I can score a super tan), is my mom's uber-traditional Hungarian cooking. So in lieu of potpies and mac n' cheese, I'm gorging myself on sausage-and-lentil stew and ground beef and cauliflower gratin. And even if I'm only visiting for a weekend, my mom still doesn't fail to outdo herself with the spread. Last weekend when I popped home for my dad's birthday, mom thought it would be a good idea to stuff and roast not one, but two ducks. And inside each succulent duck is a little surprise--my mom's eastern-European inspired stuffing that actually makes the duck meat itself more flavorful.
She soaks dried rolls in milk first, then wrings them out and passes them through a grinder. The key ingredients, though, are the tons of marjoram and finely chopped duck liver that she throws into the mix, making the end result so hearty that you can slice the stuffing into pieces like a pie. Alongside the tender juicy duck that she roasts at 375 degrees for 2 hours, this is the kind of meal that makes me want to stay home--indefinitely. Try your own version of this stuffing, substituting whichever herbs suit your palate, and of course, omitting the chopped duck liver if it isn't your thing, but just don't tell any eastern European about that!
From: Sigari | 12/10/09 at 6:37 pm
Fantastic teaser recipe. I'd love to have the full-length recipe, please. Perhaps feature duck in an issue of Everyday Food? I think it would work well as a subject for the sections "Have You Tried?" or "Tonight's Dinner, Tomorrow's Lunch." Or, feature it as a special weekend meal complete with traditional eastern European sides.
From: rookie cookie | 12/10/09 at 11:27 pm
Hot diggity- I LOVE DUCK. It is such an underestimated delicacy.
And boy is your mom in the know with adding the livers into the stuffing.