Recipe: Crisped Duck with Roasted Turnips

Crisped Duck with Roasted Turnips,
Port Wine Reduction

Serves 4

5 pound fresh duck
16 small white turnips (2 pounds), peeled and cut in half
2 cups tawny port

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove giblets and wing tips from the duck. Separate the liver from giblets, wrapping it well and putting it in the refrigerator for use with other recipes.

Put remaining giblets and wing tips in a medium saucepan with cold water to cover. Add 1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook for 1 hour. Strain through a coarse-mesh sieve into a clean pot. Discard wing tips and save giblets for use with other recipes. Cook stock over medium heat and reduce until you have 1/2 cup. Set aside.

Remove lobes of fat from duck and discard. Wash duck well and dry. Prick duck skin all over with a fork. Rub salt and freshly ground black pepper into skin. Truss duck with string.

Place duck on a rack fit in a broiler pan. Roast for 1-1/4 hours. Remove duck from rack. Pour off fat or save fat for use in other recipes. Place duck directly in broiler pan. Place turnips around duck and return it to oven. After 25 minutes, turn turnips over. Cook an additional 20 minutes. Raise oven temperature to 500 degrees F. Cook duck 15 minutes longer. Total cooking time for duck will be 2-1/4 hours.

While duck is cooking, make the port wine reduction. In a medium saucepan, put 1/2 cup reduced duck stock and add 1 cup port. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes.

In a small saucepan, cook 1 cup port until it is reduced to 3 tablespoons.

Add duck stock to port reduction and cook a few minutes, until sauce is syrupy. You will have approximately 1/2 cup. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Remove duck and turnips from oven and let duck rest. Remove string and cut duck into quarters or as desired.

From:
Recipes 1-2-3 Menu Cookbook:
Morning, Noon, and Night
By Rozanne Gold
Little, Brown and Company
Hardcover, $25.00
320 pages plus 31 color photos
ISBN: 0-316-31485-4
Recipe Reprinted by permission.