Stuff each duck with the following—grated carrot, onion, tarragon, and chopped celery (in 2-inch lengths, leaves, and all).
Brush with melted butter, juice of lemon, and first glass of claret.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place ducks in a shallow roasting pan in preheated 400° degree oven and baste frequently with butter mixture.
Cook 40 minutes.
Place ducks on a hot platter and return to turned-off oven to keep warm while making gravy.
To juices in a roasting pan add the remaining glass of claret and blend.
Pour gravy over birds.
Serve with wild rice, a green vegetable, and hearts of lettuce salad with a tart dressing.
Notes
SHORT ON FAT — Readers have been asking about cooking wild duck. The first thing to remember is that these birds don’t have the fat that domestic ducklings have. This means that they need to be basted frequently as they cook. The next thing to remember is not to overcook them. Nothing is quite so dry and unpalatable as overcooked wild fowl.
Pull out any leaves of fat from the body cavity of the duck.
Sprinkle cavity with salt.
Place duck in roasting pan.
Put giblets and neck in the second pan.
Roast duck and giblets in hot (425°) oven 30 minutes.
Remove pan with giblets.
Reduce oven heat to moderate (325°) and roast duck one hour longer, pouring ofl’ fat as it accumulates in the pan.
Meanwhile, add water, onion, and ½ teaspoon salt to giblets and neck and simmer about 45 minutes.
To prepare orange peel, cut a thin slice, orange portion only, from orange, and cut into very thin slivers. Cover generously with cold water and boil 10 minutes.
Drain off water and reserve peel.
Combine sugar and vinegar in a small saucepan and boil 3 minutes.
Add ¾ cup stock from giblets, orange juice, ½ teaspoon salt, cloves, and catsup.
Simmer about 5 minutes.
Blend cornstarch with sherry and stir into sauce.
Cook and stir until clear and thickened.
Strain spices from the sauce, add slivered orange peel.
Pass sauce separately to be spooned over servings of duck.
Notes
MOIST AND JUICY—For fattier domestic duck, we suggest a high temperature, then a low one to melt away excess fat, while leaving the flesh moist and juicy. Serve it with an orange sauce and glasses of Burgundy wine,
