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Duck with Ginger and Pineapple sauce Well, I bought a duck and was wondering how to cook it. Of course, you all have a favourite recipe for quack quack in Orange sauce but I've done that and I wanted something new. I've done a rather good apple and raisin sauce before which I may write up one day but what to choose this time? Well, I was about to cop out and buy an orange but then I realised that the pineapples and root ginger were a lot closer in the shop. So, that's how we have this recipe!
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You will need: One Duck. One rounded tablespoon of fresh root ginger (grated) Three slices of pineapple (grated). Two whole slices of pineapple. One rounded tablespoonful of flour. A little black pepper, a pinch of salt and one rounded teaspoonful of ground nutmeg. One can of beer. |
How to Roast a Duck. You don't really need this info do you? Well, just in case, here goes: Rule one: don't cook frozen birds without being certain that they are well and truely thawed out. If you forget this then one day you will die a horrible death from Salmonella. Even if you do not die, you will surely end up spending unacceptably long periods of time sitting on the toilet. So, make sure that you have a good book handy. Hey, this could be an excuse for a quick plug of my book reviews! OK, I know that sometimes things just don't work out and the bird remains cold and seems to be taking forever to thaw out. What to do? Well, what you do not do is try to cook it for a little longer or a little hotter. All that will happen is that you end up with a burned outside and a poisonous uncooked centre. Here is what I do though you should be aware that this is an emergency measure only, it does carry some risk and you may well misjudge the process in which case, you run the risk of food poinsoning. So, if you are at all in doubt, don't try this, accept that you will eat the bird the next day. I would not do this myself if the meal was to be consumed by anyone other than tough, fit, non-pregnant adults and I accept no liability if it does not work out. I'm only saying this because it's better than trying to cook a frozen bird direct. Well, with all of those warnings in mind, you could try to immerse the whole bird in a bowl of hand hot water for a few minutes. Check after that the bird is fully thawed out. (Don't be squeamish, give it a fistie.) Also, remember that you cannot use this technique to thaw a huge bird. That will take hours and you run a real risk that bacteria will breed in the outer layers which is not so good. Weigh the duck. Remember, the weight should be the weight of the bird as you will cook it. So, giblets out and stuffing (if any) in. Calculate 20 minutes per Imperial Pound or 45 minutes per Napoleonic Kilogramme. Prick the skin all over with a fork. (Imagine that it's your boss.) and then put the bird in a tray, in an oven preheated to Gas Mk6 or 200C for the calculated time. |
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And, this is what you do! Open the beer and begin to roast the duck. (See "how to roast a duck.") Put the giblets from the duck into a pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer. When the duck has 20 mintes left to go, remove the giblets from the pan of water and add the ginger, grated pineapple, salt, pepper and nutmeg to the water and bring to the boil. Sieve in the flour a little at a time and stir well between sievings. Allow the sauce to simmer gently. Meanwhile, place the pineapple slices onto the top of the duck. Just before serving, add any juices from the tray with the duck to the sauce. (Try not to add all of the fat from the tray at the same time.) |
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To Serve Pour the sauce all over everything and serve! Easy really! Serve with lots of roasted vegetables. (It's a lot less work if you serve roast veggies when you roast some meat.) This goes well with a nice bottle of red wine. (So do most things.) |
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