ROAST DUCK WITH CHERRIES

Roast Duck with Cherries image

Roast duck with cherries is a delicious and elegant dinner dish courtesy of Vitaly Paley and can be found in "The Paley's Place Cookbook."

Provided by Martha Stewart

Categories Food & Cooking Dinner Recipes

Number Of Ingredients 19

Ingredients

Pinch of ground cloves
6 star anise, ground, plus 2 whole
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
1 large onion, quartered
1 large turnip, peeled and quartered
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into large pieces
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 (4-to-5-pound) whole Muscovy duck
Duck neck and organs (not the liver), optional
6 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
3 sticks cinnamon
3 cups Bing cherries, stemmed and pitted, or 2 1/2 cups dried sour cherries
3 cups red wine
1/4 cup sugar
2 heads garlic, separated into cloves

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl, stir together cloves, ground star anise, and ground cinnamon. Place potatoes, carrots, onion, turnip, and sweet potato in a roasting pan large enough to hold the duck; sprinkle half the spice mixture over the pan and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil and mix to coat.
Rinse duck in cold water and pat dry. Rub duck all over with remaining spice mixture and 3 tablespoons olive oil; season generously, inside and out, with salt and pepper. Place duck, breast side up, on top of vegetables in roasting pan. Add neck and organs, along with thyme, bay leaves, and 2 cinnamon sticks. Cover pan tightly with parchment paper-lined aluminum foil; transfer to oven and cook for 2 hours.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine cherries, red wine, sugar, remaining cinnamon stick, and whole star anise. Place over low heat and cook until cherries are soft and wine has reduced to a syrupy consistency, about 30 minutes. Reserve about 3 tablespoons of syrup for glazing the duck. Transfer remaining syrup to a small serving bowl; set aside and keep warm.
Carefully uncover duck and baste with pan juices. Add garlic cloves to pan and re-cover with parchment paper-lined foil. Return duck to oven and continue cooking until meat starts pulling away from the bone, about 2 hours more.
Uncover duck and brush with reserved cherry-wine syrup. Return to oven and roast until skin is crispy and dark, rich brown in color, about 15 minutes.
Carefully transfer duck to a large serving platter. Let stand, uncovered, while preparing the vegetables. Transfer vegetables to a large bowl. Remove meat from the neck and add to vegetables, discarding bones. Thinly slice remaining organs and add to the vegetables; mash vegetables and meat together and season with salt and pepper.
Transfer vegetable mixture to a serving bowl and serve immediately along with duck and cherry-wine syrup.