Christmas duck recipes | Jamie Oliver poultry recipes (2024)

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Easy Christmas roast duck with crispy potatoes and port gravy

A festive feast

Christmas duck recipes | Jamie Oliver poultry recipes (2)

A festive feast

“This whole roast duck stuffed with festive spices makes a gorgeous change to Christmas turkey ”

Serves 10

Cooks In3 hours plus marinating and resting time

DifficultyNot too tricky

ChristmasDinner PartyBritishPotato

Nutrition per serving
  • Calories 652 33%

  • Fat 42.4g 61%

  • Saturates 12.2g 61%

  • Sugars 11g 12%

  • Salt 1.5g 25%

  • Protein 19.6g 39%

  • Carbs 45.4g 17%

  • Fibre 6.2g -

Of an adult's reference intake

Tap For Method

Ingredients

  • 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 1 nutmeg
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 oranges or blood oranges
  • 2 x 2 kg whole ducks , necks and giblets reserved and roughly
  • 8 cloves garlic
  • 3 red onions
  • a few stalks celery
  • 3 carrots
  • 5cm piece fresh ginger
  • ½ stick cinnamon
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 2 kg Maris Piper potatoes
  • 1 litre water or organic chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons plain flour
  • 200 ml Port

Tap For Method

The cost per serving below is generated by Whisk.com and is based on costs in individual supermarkets. For more information about how we calculate costs per serving read our FAQS

Tap For Ingredients

Method

  1. Pick the leaves off one rosemary sprig. Grate half the nutmeg and zest both oranges. Cut the oranges in half and set aside for stuffing the duck.
  2. Put everything on a board with one tablespoon of sea salt and chop it all up. Rub the mixture all over the ducks, inside and out. Cover and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to let the flavours penetrate.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and arrange the shelves on the middle and bottom levels. Stuff the ducks with the remaining rosemary sprigs, garlic cloves and reserved orange halves.
  4. Peel and quarter the onions, then trim and roughly chop the celery and carrots. Peel and chop the ginger. Scatter the veg and ginger in the bottom of a large, deep-sided roasting tray with the cinnamon and bay leaves. Roughly chop the reserved duck neck and giblets and add to the mix.
  5. Place the ducks breast-side up, straight on to the bars of the middle shelf, then pop the veg-filled roasting tray on the bottom shelf beneath the ducks ready to catch all the lovely fat that drips out of them.
  6. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Pop them in a pan and cover with cold, salted water. Bring to a simmer and parboil for 5 to 10 minutes, then tip into a colander and chuff them up a little.
  7. After the duck has roasted for an hour, take the bottom tray out of the oven, replacing it immediately with an empty tray. Spoon the fat from the veggie tray into a bowl. Put all the veg, duck bits and juices into a large saucepan, then add a little boiling water to the tray to get all the sticky brown bits off the bottom – this is what you’re going to make your gravy with. Tip the water and brown bits into the pan with the veg, top up with 1 litre of water or chicken stock and place on a medium heat, skimming off any of the fat that rises to the top.
  8. Put your parboiled potatoes into the empty tray in the oven. Add a few more tablespoons of duck fat from the bowl, season, and place back underneath the ducks to cook for an hour.
  9. Meanwhile, heat a saucepan and add 2 tablespoons of duck fat. When it’s hot and melted, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a paste. Stir in the contents of the saucepan and the Port. Bring the gravy to the boil and simmer gently for half an hour, stirring occasionally. By now the ducks will have had 2 hours in the oven and will be done. Lift them on to a plate, cover loosely with tin foil and leave to rest for about 15 minutes.
  10. Pour the gravy through a sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing down on all the veg and other bits to extract as many flavours and juices as you can. Keep the gravy warm in the saucepan, again skimming off any fat on the surface.
  11. When you're ready to dish up – don’t carve the ducks! The best thing to do is to pull the meat away from the bones with a pair of tongs or with your fingers wearing clean kitchen gloves, then let everyone fight over the delicious skin. Serve with your potatoes and gravy.

Related features

52 Festive alternatives to Turkey

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Jamie’s handy guide to roasting meat

Related video

How to roast a goose, part 1: Jamie’s Food Team

© 2024 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited

© 2024 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited

Christmas duck recipes | Jamie Oliver poultry recipes (2024)

FAQs

How does Jamie Oliver cook a duck? ›

Method
  1. Heat the oven to 180°C/350ºF/gas 4. ...
  2. Mix the Chinese five-spice with a good pinch of salt and pepper and rub all over the duck, inside and out. ...
  3. Remove the tray from the oven. ...
  4. After the duck has had 2 hours, remove the tray from the oven and, once again, spoon the fat out of the tray and into the bowl.

How to prepare a duck for Christmas dinner? ›

Roast the duck for approximately 3 hours or until it reaches a core temperature of 70-75°C / °158-167 in the breast and thighs. Baste the duck with fluid from the roasting pan every 30 minutes. For extra crispy duck skin, grill in the oven for the last 5 minutes.

What is the most popular duck dish in the world? ›

Peking Duck

A famous duck dish from Beijing that has been prepared since the imperial era, known for its thin, crispy skin.

What goes with duck for Christmas dinner? ›

The best side dishes to serve with roast duck are mashed potatoes, yellow rice, french fries, Brussels sprouts with bacon, ratatouille, grilled asparagus, mushroom risotto, deviled eggs, baked zucchini, eggplant salad, butternut squash, carrot mash, blistered tomatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, and caramelized carrots.

Why do you soak duck in milk? ›

Soaking ducks in various liquids is a common “cure” for the taste that seems offensive to many. Some soak duck breast in milk, wine, bourbon, salt water and probably a bunch of other stuff.

What size duck for 2 people? ›

When buying whole duck or goose, allow about one to 1 1/2 pounds of raw weight per person. Raw boneless meat yields about three servings per pound after cooking. Estimate three to four-ounces per person for fully cooked products.

Should I sear a duck before roasting? ›

The journey towards perfectly roasted or baked duck breast entails commencing with a searing process. This initial step sets the foundation for achieving the ideal oven-roasted duck breast—a tantalizingly golden and crisp exterior juxtaposed with a succulent, flavorful interior.

What do you soak duck in before cooking? ›

A simple salt brine makes almost any duck a delight to serve on the upcoming holiday table. In many cases, soaking or marinating your meat only masks the flavor. It does not change it.

What fruit pairs well with duck? ›

Mouth-watering duck was made to pair with fruits, like blueberries, cherries, cranberries, apricots, currants, dates, figs, citrus fruits, mangoes, peaches, pears, pomegranates, prunes, and grapes. Seared Duck Breast with Pear Chutney not only has pears, but raisins and orange juice.

What kind of duck do most restaurants serve? ›

DIFFERENT TASTE

Mallard is frequently hunted as game and Muscovy and Moulard breeds are served in restaurants occasionally. The White Pekin duck is the most widely used breed since it has a tender, mild flavor that is not "gamey" like other types of duck marketed in the United States.

What is the fancy name for cooked duck? ›

Called Confit de Canard in French, Duck Confit is an elegant and classic French bistro dish. Confit (pronounced kon-FEE) here refers to the method of slow-cooking the duck in its fat, yielding gorgeously tender meat. The legs are then briefly sizzled in a hot pan or oven until the paper-thin skin is wonderfully crisp.

What seasonings go well with duck? ›

Combine the smoked paprika, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, five spice powder, dry mustard and some salt and pepper in a bowl. Using a sharp knife, score the skin of the duck so it has a 1/4-inch diamond pattern. Rub the spice mixture all over the duck.

What sauce to eat with duck? ›

Red Wine Gravy A luxurious, rich red wine gravy perfect with roast duck and all the trimmings. A zesty cranberry sauce perfect with a roast duck or with Christmas dinner. Duck and cherries, the perfect combination! Duck breast with rich cherry sauce The classic combination of duck and cherry!

What drink pairs well with duck? ›

Duck and pinot noir is a classic pairing because both offer moderate intensity, with pinot noir's acidity balancing out the fattiness of duck. Since duck often cooks well with fruit, the fruity notes in pinot couldn't be any better of a match. Always remember to match intensity with intensity.

What is the cooking technique that is used to cook the duck? ›

Whole duck is usually roasted in one of two ways; Chinese-style where the skin is dried and lacquered as it cooks, or in the same way as a roast chicken in a hot oven. Roast duck however, unlike chicken, needs considerable help in de-fatting or it will taste greasy.

How is duck supposed to be cooked? ›

The USDA recommends 165°F (74°C) internal temperature for all poultry. But because duck is not a common carrier of salmonella and its meat is more akin to lamb or beef, Hank Shaw, author and chef, says that “Rare-to-medium is the mantra” when it comes to duck breast.

Should you cover a duck when roasting? ›

Cover and roast in oven for 2 hours. Remove the aluminium foil and continue cooking uncover for 30 to 40 minutes to make the skin crispy and brown.

References

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