My Grandfather’s Roast Duck With Raisin Bread Dressing

My paternal grandfather was a very good  cook. I watched him  make this duck once and I never forgot it. I really love this  dish and it is a German dish I learned by watching him make this incredible dish.

You will need a roasting pan  an empty coffee can for draining the fat and a bowl for making the dressing.  For brining solution this is  optional, enough water to cover the duck and add 3 pinches of  kosher salt  and a pinch of  turbindano  sugar  to  the brining solution. White  vinegar and water for cleaning the duck.

Ingredients for the duck:

a pinch of black pepper  a pinch of salt   2 pinches of tarragon 2 pinches of thyme  2 pinches marjoram  and a pinch of sage

Dressing ingredients:

a loaf of raison bread  (I  make mine from scratch and most people don’t want to be bothered but for those that do want to do the extra work I will post the homemade raison bread later  it makes this duck tastes extra special because of all of the  work that went in it.)

4 stalks of celery  cut in small pieces

1 onion diced

a pinch of  pepper and salt or to your taste.  2 pinches   same like for the duck   as following  2 pinches  of  tarragon 2 pinches of thyme  2 pinches of marjoram  and a pinch of sage.

Method:  Clean the duck  first  with white vinegar and water  because this would take the funky smell out of the duck.

Make  brine (optional I do this because it makes the meat so nice and tender and is very moist and flavorful). Set the duck in the brine overnight and in the fridge. Drain the  duck  and  rinse it then season it with the  pinch of salt and pepper or to taste 2 pinches each of tarragon thyme  and marjoram, rosemary  and a pinch of sage.  These can be used either fresh or dried.

Dressing: First  boil the giblets  and the neck with  half of the onion and 2 stalks of celery  add  salt, pepper  and the spices a pinch of thyme, tarragon, marjoram  and sage each.  while that is cooking  tear a loaf of raison bread in to very tiny pieces.  Add 2 stalks of celery and the other half of the onion and spices  a pinch of  salt and black pepper or to taste a pinch each of marjoram, bay leaf,  thyme, tarragon and sage.  When the giblets are done  mix it with the raison bread mixture then you are ready to stuff the duck.

Preheat the oven for 350ºF  or 177ºC

Take this dressing and stuff it in to the duck’s cavity  you can use tiny skewers to close it up to keep the dressing inside till it is done another option is  sewing I seen my grandfather do this with heavy thread but there is this thing  about  how clean it is so I think the skewers  would work better then you can pop it in the oven  for 1 1/2 hours or until done it depends on your oven and keep checking on it every  30 minutes to drain the fat out of the roasting pan in to an empty coffee can.   I hope you do enjoy this  recipe. I loved eating it when my grandfather made it. When he made  this dish  it really  was the bomb,  American slang for saying it is really good.