Best Braised Duck With Apples Calvados And Sour Cream Recipes

Duck Stuffed with Apples image

Provided by Food Network Kitchen

Time 1h45m

Yield 6 servings

Number Of Ingredients 8

2 ducks, 5 pounds each
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
6 green apples, peeled and chopped
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white wine
2/3 cup sour cream

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Season the ducks with salt and pepper, then rub with thyme leaves. Stuff half the apple in the cavities of the ducks. Pierce the skin with a fork and dot the skin with butter.
Place the ducks, on a rack in a roasting pan. Pour the water and wine into the pan.
Roast in oven for 1 1/2 hours or until an instant read thermometer placed in the thigh registers 180 degrees F. Baste occasionally, adding water if needed. During the last 20 minutes of cooking, place rest of the apples in the pan. When the ducks are fully cooked, remove them from the oven and let them rest for 15 minutes before carving. Mix the pan apples with the sour cream and serve with the carved meat.

Braised Duck With Apples, Calvados and Sour Cream image

Provided by Robert Farrar Capon

Time 1h30m

Yield Makes 4 servings

Number Of Ingredients 13

1 large duckling, cut into serving pieces
Seasoned flour for dredging ( 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper per half-cup flour)
2 tablespoons butter
1 large Spanish onion, chopped coarse
2 tart apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths
1 tablespoon sugar (or more, as desired)
Duck liver and giblets, cut small (optional)
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 teaspoons sage
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper, as desired
1/4 cup Calvados (or more, as desired)
1 cup sour cream

Steps:

Dredge duck pieces with flour and shake off excess. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add duck pieces, skin side down, and fry slowly until nicely browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Turn and brown other side. Remove duck and reserve.
Pour off all but 2 to 4 tablespoons of fat in the skillet, add onion and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned. Add apples, sugar, liver and giblets. Cook, stirring, 3 minutes more. Add thyme, sage, stock, salt, pepper and Calvados. Bring to a boil and return duck pieces to skillet. Cover securely and cook over very low heat for 1 hour, or until quite tender but not falling off the bone.
Remove duck pieces to a deep serving platter and skim off fat from mixture in skillet. Add sour cream, check seasonings, reheat without boiling and pour over duck. Serve with mashed potatoes.