Chrimmas duck

Duck is not Christmas food to me, but there are three ways I roast duck:
1) roast duck with apples
Duck is stuffed with onion and peeled-and-cored green apple and roasted whole. This one is typically served 'dry' IE no gravy or sauce. Some people mashed the onion/apple mixture and serve it alongside. I add blanched wedged potato to the pan during the last 40-60 minutes of roasting.

2) roast duck with gravy
The back and wings (despite being larger birds than chickens, duck wings are surprisingly not very meaty) are removed and the duck is roasted spatchcocked; the removed bits are roasted separately to brown them nicely, then used to make a stock which is then thickened with a duck fat roux mounted with wine-caramelised onion. Before serving, the gravy is blitzed smooth.

3) beechwood and juniper roasted duck with red wine glaze
The duck is spatchcocked again and places on top a beech plank with juniper berries; as it roasts, the plank and juniper berries release aroma that permeated the duck nicely. During the last bit of cooking, red wine is reduced and brushed onto the duck.

Do any of these sound okay? I would guess the juniper one might as juniper is a pretty Christmas-y flavour.

So far im going to render the ducks fat and poach it. I want to stuff rosemary, thyme, (sage), garlic, star anis, peppercorns and bay leafs in there. Brush it with a microwaved honey-vinegar mix and rub it with salt and paprika powder. Am i missing something? Gimme your favourite fillings

Can u just roast meat in the oven on a wood plank without it setting on fire? Sorry if that's a dumb question. Thinking about an indoors apartment kitchen setting and if there's any way to incorporate wood without burning it down.

MSG (seriously)

hoisin (no rosemary or thyme or sage then)''

I made a hoisin sauce covered tea smoked duck once for Thanksgiving and it was pretty nice. I think Asian for Christmas is fine if your family aren't hicks.

Ive once drank so much that im close to throwing up the second alcohol touches my tongue, thanks though. Do you take the filling out of the duck to eat it or does it go straight into the garbage?
PS; Not much of a choice for christmas food when youre the only one eating but want something with wings you can afford that isnt a chicken.
Thanks for taking time to reply, but i dont want to try something such adventurous the first time i make a duck.
Howd you make your duck gravy?

Yes. I do it often. Many people say to soak the wood in water first, but I've never and it hasn't caught fire yet though if it helps ease your concerns about the wood catching, go ahead and soak.
Also, google for more information. Something like 'cooking with a wood plank in the oven' or whathaveyou.

I come from other boards and im used to tag other anons
Hows you make that hoisin tea duck? Now that so many speak of it im getting interested

Can i freeze duck fat well? How long does it keep?

Do I personally remove the apple and onion and toss it? No. I eat it, just not mashed.
Wine glaze and wine caramelised onions don't have much of an alcoholic taste, really. If it's an issue, though, you can mix a little grape juice concentrate with a little red vinegar as a substitute for red wine and apple juice concenrate with cider vinegar as a substitute for white.
I used to work as a personal cook for a family where all alcohol was verboton because of their weird religion and that's what I used to do for them. It's not a perfect substitution, but it's decent enough.

Is there anything wrong with my potential filling? Maybe but something actually edible in there? Is anything in there that doesnt match (Might wanna throw some lemon in there, too)
Referring to by the way

Rendered duck grease, if properly prepared (IE removed of as much moisture as possible) and strained through fine mesh can keep in a lidded container in the fridge for quite a long time. I recommend that you cook the grease on the hob on low heat to allow moisture to evaporate then strain through filter paper to remove particulate matter.

Freezing is fine and keeps for a long time, but it also stays good for a month or more in an airtight container in the fridge.

Not to my tastes, no, but hardly objectionable. Doesn't sound bad, just not something I'd do.
>lemon
Lemon is a good addition, too.

I've kept rendered grease in the fridge for several months, yeah. I have a pot of lamb's tallow from a breast roast I made in April that I just used last Wednesday for roasting some potatoes as a side dish to pan-cooked lamb chops. Still good.

What was their favourite dish of yours?
Whatd you stuff in there?

Howd you make a pork belly?

What will you guys be eating on christmas?

>'you guys'
>they're all me
Roast carp and other fish dishes because family are old world Catholics.

Braised-and-roasted. Once, I smoked it.

Apple, leek, carrot, celery root, parsley root, laurels, allspice, peppercorns and either cabbage core or turnip are added to a pot with cider or beer then the belly is braised in it until cooked through and, finally, roasted in the oven to get the skin crisp.

>fav dish
Anything chicken. They went crazy for chicken. Either chicken in tomato sauce with pasta, paprika chicken or chicken sauteed in coconut curry sauce, I would guess to be their favourite. Also liked pork loaf with mushroom gravy. And chicken in carrot sauce, now that I think of it.

>what to stuff
I rub it inside and out with marjoram, salt and pepper then stuff with apple, onion and laurel.

I ain't fancy.

>Take whole duck, brine it for 2 days
>Season and roast at 350 until duck is about 120 internally
>Remove duck from oven, and on to a new tray to cool
>Quarter duck, and put all scraps on old baking tray
>drain off fat and deglaze the original baking pan with white wine and a pat of butter, whisk hard during deglazing
>cook alch out and reduce Glace until it starts to thicken
>Chinous the glace and chill
>in a pot heat up some honey(most of this should be honey) , a dash of Sriracha, orange zest, brown sugar, and some roasted garlic puree
>In another pot reduce chicken stock by half, and add some glace to desired taste. Mount with a pat of butter
>in a roasting boat (or whatever you have) put a quartered duck portion and enough stock+glaze to cover it half way, into the oven at 500 until it is 10 degrees under desired temp
>Once 10 degrees until desired temp, glaze top of duck heavily with honey mixture
>Broil until hard carmelization
>Allow to carry over to be perfectly cooked

Serve over some roasted root veggies, and pour the remaining stock and Glace mixture over the duck before serving.

Thanks, doesnt sound that good though. What does leaving it in the brine add to the flavor, is there any difference to just salting it (i mean, its just in there for two days)?

The meat absorbs some of the brine and it makes it juicier.

Thanks, is this safe to do with something that has wings though?