ROAST DUCK WITH SOUR CHERRY GLAZE (ROCCO DI SPIRITO)

ROAST DUCK WITH SOUR CHERRY GLAZE (ROCCO DI SPIRITO) image

Yield 4 people

Number Of Ingredients 15

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Ingredients

For the Duck:
1 Duck (5-6 lbs)
Coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 lbs rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/4 C white wine vinegar
4 tbsp honey
2 sprigs mint, leaves julienned
For the glaze
1 C dried sour cherries
1 C red-wine vinegar
1 C sugar
2 750 ml bottles of zinfandel or other dry red wine
3 tbsp hot mustard
Salt

Steps:

Roast duck: 1. Preheat oven to 225F, with racks in upper and lower thirds. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. 2. Score the fat on the breast of the duck, making crosswise slashes, being careful not to cut the meat. Using kitchen twine, truss the duck, leaving enough twine to form a handle. 3. Holding twine handle, lower duck into the boiling water for 10 seconds. Remove; drain. Place breast side up on a wire rack in a roasting pan. Add 1 inch of water to pan to prevent the fat from smoking. Season with salt and pepper. 4. Season rutabagas with salt and pepper and put in an ovenproof saucepan. Drizzle with vinegar and stir. Cover saucepan and place on upper rack of oven with the duck on the lower rack. Roast until duck is golden brown and most of the fat has rendered. 2 1/2 to 3 hours. 5. Remove rutabagas; set aside. Raise oven temperature to 500F. Transfer duck to upper rack continue roasting until the skin is well browned and crisp, ~10 minutes. 6. Meanwhile, pass rutabaga through a food mill fitted with a large disk into a medium saucepan. Add butter and honey; season with salt and pepper, stirring to combine. Stir in mint. Transfer to a serving dish; keep warm. 7. Remove duck from oven, and immediately brush with the sour cherry glaze. Transfer to a serving platter. Serve duck with rutabagas and remaining glaze. Make glaze: 1. In a small saucepan combine cherries and vinegar over medium heat just until steam rises from pan. Remove from heat and let cherries rehydrate (~20 minutes). Drain, reserving liquid, and chop. 2. Put sugar in a large skillet over medium heat; cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves and turns a light caramel color, ~10 minutes. 3. Remove caramel from heat. Add reserved vinegar carefully as it may spatter. Stir until caramel melts. Add wine; simmer over medium low heat until mixture has reduced by about two thirds to the consistency of a thin syrup. Stir in cherries. Whisk in mustard and season with salt.