Day 350.
Duck. It's what's for dinner. I had planned on making a duck (or 2) this year, but sort of forgot about it until Kiy emailed me last week. She wanted to make a duck for Christmas, but the last duck she made created a huge mess in the oven. I hate messes.
This didn't make a mess, but duck has SO much juice in it, that it did fall off the bones, even with a short cooking time and not much added liquid. The meat is delicious, but you just aren't going to get the same presentation when it comes out of a crockpot as you do when it comes out of an oven. Or when a restaurant serves it. That said, the sweetness of the meat was great, and the kid who tasted it thought it was just like chicken.
The Ingredients.
--4 to 5 lb duck--1/2 tsp oregano
--1/4 tsp pepper
--1 tsp garlic salt
--1/2 tsp lemon rind
--2 tsp cornstarch
--1/3 cup apricot preserves
--1 T soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat-free are GF)
--2 T honey
--2 T lemon juice
The Directions.
Skin the duck, and remove the neck and giblets (ick). I'm getting much better at skinning things! I deserve a merit badge. The skin on a duck is quite fatty on the breast, but the back is bony and I had a hard time removing the skin from it. I chose to leave a bit of skin on the wings and drumsticks to see if they would brown.
They didn't. There was a lot of juice in the pot. If you have a little rack that fits inside your crockpot, use it. I don't have one, but today I'm going to dig around and see what I can use---maybe the little steamer rack thing from the rice cooker? Updated 12/16: You DO need a little rack. Read what I did, here.
Mix all dry spices, including cornstarch and lemon rind in a small bowl. Rub mixture all over the duck, inside and out. Place the duck in your crockpot ( breast down--I used a 6 quart). Use the same bowl (might as well) to mix the wet ingredients together. Pour over the top of the duck.
Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or until a meat thermometer registers 165-180 degrees.
The Verdict.
I haven't eaten much duck. I liked this, but it wouldn't be something that I eat often. The meat is sort of greasy for my taste. The glaze was good, and I think next time I'm going to double the sauce, to have extra for dipping, or to spoon over the top of the finished duck. My kids really liked the sauce a lot. "Peking Duck," coming up tomorrow! I think.
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