Roast Duck with Wild Rice and Hunter’s Sauce
This is a classic recipe in the best sense of the word. A traditional hunter-style brown sauce, flavored with bacon and wild mushrooms, accompanies roast duck. Serve with green vegetables, wild rice, and a bottle of fine red wine.
Ingredients
- Duck - one, 3 to 5 pound
- Celery Stalks - 6, chopped
- Onions - 2 medium, chopped
- Carrots - 6 medium, peeled and chopped
- Dried Oregano - 1 teaspoon
- Dried Basil - 1 teaspoon
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Hunter’s Sauce
- Bacon - 8 ounces, (about 6 to 8 slices), chopped
- Onion - 1 large, chopped
- Mushrooms - 8 ounces shiitake, oyster, or other wild mushrooms, or white cultivated mushrooms, chopped
- Dry white wine - 1 cup
- Duck Stock or Chicken Stock - 6 cups
- Tomato - 1 cup, diced
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Remove the neck and giblets from the duck Loosely stuff the cavity of the duck with chopp4d vegetables, herbs, and seasonings, and place the remaining vegetables on the bottom of a roasting pan. Set the duck on the vegetables. Roast for 2 to 2-1/2 hours, or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the duck meat registers 190 F. Let cool. Split the duck in half and remove the vegetables and bones, reserving them to make stock. The duck can be prepared to this point, wrapped, and refrigerated while you make stock; bring back to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.
To make the sauce: In a large saute pan or skillet, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving the bacon fat; discard the bacon or save for another use. Add the onion to the bacon fat and cook over medium heat until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the white wine, stock, and tomatoes. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve: If necessary, warm the duck halves to piping hot. Place one on each warmed individual serving platter and surround with hunter’s sauce.
