- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings
You may use either bourbon or brandy for this Southern-flavoured, delicious dish. The glaze is amazingly simple yet mouth-watering. Use pure maple syrup from Canada or Vermont of Grade A or better.
Light maple syrup is supposed to be of the highest quality, but dark works better for this recipe. If you cannot find bulk sausage, remove the meat and discard the casing from a raw sausage link.
If you like this Maple Brandy Roasted Duck or the Dirty Rice recipes (and I hope you love them), you may want to try my Canard au Cerise (Duck with Bing Cherry Sauce) and a Simple Rice Pilaf for quicker daily meals.
Ingredients
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- 1 duck, approx. 5 pounds
- 1 cup dark amber maple syrup
- 1 cup of brandy
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 apple, cored and sliced
- 2 cups of water
- large pinch of white pepper
- salt
- dirty rice pilaf (recipe follows).
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, warm the maple syrup and brandy over low heat. Add the white pepper and Worcestershire sauce, and stir.
- After trimming off the duck’s wing tips, remove and reserve the neck and giblets. Wash and pat the duck dry. Prick the skin all over with a fork. This will allow excess fat to escape during roasting.
- Season the skin and cavity with salt. Brush with sauce and place, breast side up, on a rack in the roasting pan. To the roasting pan, add the water, neck of the duck, and apple slices. Roast for 40 minutes.
- Baste the breast side with sauce, flip over, baste the back side, and roast for 30 minutes more. Add more water if the pan begins to dry out. Baste and flip one more time, and finish roasting for 20 minutes. The skin should be dark and crispy.
While the duck is roasting, make the dirty rice pilaf.
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, finely chopped, approximately 1 1/2 cups
- 1 cup chopped celery, about 3 stocks
- 1 medium red pepper, coarsely chopped
- ½ cup long-grain white rice
- 1/2 pound of bulk andouille or hot Italian sausage
- duck giblets, chopped finely
- 2 cups of chicken broth
- ½ cup wild rice, cooked
- 2 ounces dry mushrooms, soaked in hot water and chopped
- 1 tablespoon crushed pecans
- 2 bay leaves
- olive oil to coat the pan
- salt and cayenne pepper to taste.
Instructions
- In a medium pot, heat oil on medium-high. Fry the onion until transparent and soft. Add the celery and red pepper, stir, and fry for 2 minutes.
- Add the white rice and fry until it turns pink and transparent. Stir constantly. Add the sausage, breaking up to crumble, and chopped giblets, and cook through.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add chicken broth. Add the wild rice, mushrooms, pecans, and bay leaf. Stir well. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
- Let the duck rest at room temperature for 10 minutes, then carve and plate the meat, pilaf, and accompanying vegetables.
- Roasted parsnip, roasted spaghetti squash, and glazed carrots all make good side dishes.
