Recipe: Duck Bigos

Recipe

Duck Bigos

Serving Size: 4
Preparation Time: 2:00

4 lb duck cut in quarters
seasonings for the duck
6 oz bacon, slab in dice
1 lb kielbasa sliced
2 lg. onions diced
2 lg. apples cored and diced
4 lb sauerkraut, drained
1 bottle wine white
1 qt stock white beef or veal.
black pepper—to taste

Preparation

Season the duck well, rubbing with salt, pepper and garlic. Using a good sized roast pan, roast duck quarters in a 400 F oven until browned. The will not be done. Remove to another pan.
Add bacon to pan and allow to brown. Do not burn. Remove to pan with duck.
Add sliced kielbasi and allow to brown, Do not burn. Remove to pan with duck.
Add diced onions and apples and cook to soften. If there is an excess of fat, drain it off now, but leave some. Add drained sauerkraut. Stir with wooden spoon to deglaze pan.
Move sauerkraut to one side of the roast pan. Return the duck to the pan, and cover with the sauerkraut. Add wine and stock. Return to the oven and cook at 350 F until the duck is tender. The liquid will reduce. If it gets too low, add sauerkraut juice, stock or wine, whatever is handy. At the end, the sauerkraut should be well moistened but not loose. If you have any leftover cooked meat, like roast pork bury it under the kraut to let it cook in the liquid. It will get a little overdone but that's OK.
Add the kielbasa and bacon dice, Move duck, skin-side up, on top of the sauerkraut, and bury the bacon and kielbasa
Reduce the oven to 350 and continue roasting till the duck skin crisps up again.

You could do the same thing with a chicken, or pork shoulder or chops, or a beef chuck roast, using this generalized technique of sauerkraut stewing, The acid in the kraut is a great tenderizer.

Place a generous serving of the kraut with a portion of duck on top. Be sure to give some kelbassi and bacon croutons with it, and a little of the pan juices to glaze. Gypsy potatoes or Mashed potatoes in abundance are required.

Suggested Wine: A strong red Zin, or beer.

Notes: An easy way to make a bigos is to have leftover roast pork, chicken, what have you and bury it in the weinkraut to reheat and tenderize. There is NEVER any leftover duck at my house, so I have to roast the duck and finish cooking it in the kraut. The duck comes out falling off the bones tender, so it would be perfect for a tough wild duck. Does this make you think of Chasseur?