Succulent Stuffed Roast Duck With Balsamic Cherry Sauce

1Steve's Note:

This Duck roasts up nice and crisp and golden brown. The Brown rice stuffing and cherry sauce compliment the duck perfectly.

• Total Time: 4 hrs
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 1.0 Duck

• 1 (6 lb) duck (approx)
• salt
• garlic pepper seasoning
• 4 ½ cups cooked brown rice
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 7 -8 sprigs fresh sage , chopped
• 6 tablespoons sweet butter (also called unsalted)
• ¾ cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 (15 ounce) can pitted cherries , drained
• 2 cups red wine
• ¼ cup honey
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. To prepare the stuffing: Sauté onion in butter until onion is transparent.
3. Remove from heat.
4. In a large bowl Add salt, and combine with rice, chopped sage and pecans.
5. Taste and adjust seasoning to your taste.
6. You may wish to add more salt and if you like you can add a bit of garlic pepper, but that is optional.
7. Remove the bag from the duck cavity that contains the giblets and neck bone and set aside in refrigerator, you won't need it for this recipe.
8. Rinse and dry the duck.
9. Stuff the duck with the prepared brown rice stuffing and sew the stuffed cavity closed or secure with round tooth picks.
10. Place the stuffed duck on a rack in a roasting pan breast side up and sprinkle all over top and bottom with salt and garlic pepper.
11. Ducks contain lots of natural fat so require no basting.
12. Roast at 375ºF for about 22 minutes a pound.
13. A 6 pound duck should be done in about 2 1/4 hours.
14. When duck is done let it set for about 20 minutes to let the juices settle before carving.
15. While the duck is resting prepare the cherry sauce: In a medium size saucepan, combine the 15 ounce can of cherries, honey, wine, and Balsamic vinegar.
16. Heat over medium flame until the mixture is reduced by half.
17. Transfer to a serving touraine with a ladle.
18. Place the touraine on table beside the carved Duck and let guests spoon as much sauce as they like on their portion of duck.

Reviews

[Chef #1552906]

Since I'm a novice I had to figure out that 4 cups of cooked brown rice is a lot less than 4 cups of brown rice. (Anyone need some brown rice?) So, two 2-cup bags of Uncle Ben's stuffed by duck to the gills. I wonder if some portobello mushrooms in the rice would be nice next time... I, too, wanted a little thicker sauce but about 3 tbl of corn starch thickened it up to what I wanted. I cut the duck breasts off in two large pieces (since there was only two of us eating), placed them on top of the rice, covered with sauce, and just enjoyed looking at the presentation for awhile. It was great. My wife really doesn't like duck because we've had some pretty greasy stuff in restaurants before, but this isn't greasy or fatty. The rice is a perfect compliment to it. So was a bottle of champagne and some flowers since it was Valentine's Day. She and I both loved it. It's my new favorite receipe to try out on my relatives next time we all get together. Thanks.

[LiveLoveLaughCook]

I was so happy to find an easy recipe that tasted like we were eating in a 5 star restaurant. My Husband could not get enough or say enough good things about this meal. 2 out of the 3 of my sons gobbled it up as well but only one tried it with the sauce. (3rd son doesn't really count because he doesn't eat anything remotely different) I didn't actually stuff my duck, I just made the brown rice on the side cooked in broth (without butter) with some dried cranberries and toasted almonds in it and it was delicious and Everyone ate it up. I too would have liked a slightly thicker sauce but didn't have any cornstarch on hand. Delicious though... I think this will be on the menu the next time we have a dinner party.

[hannath]

I coule only give this four stars due to the fact that I didn't make the entire recipe. I did not stuff the bird, since my family doesn't like rice. So, I just seasoned the duck unstuffed and then roasted it in the oven. I did make the Balsamic Cherry Sauce. I thought it was delicious. I would make it again. However, my husband is not a big fan of duck, but I thought I would try it and see what he thought. To my surprise, he said, 'It was edible'!! For him to make that comment is like you and I saying it was great!! You have to understand my husband is meat (red) and potatoes for every meal, if I would let him. I also made a cabbage dish and had some leftover mashed potatoes to go with the duck. He didn't like the cabbage dish either. And, of course, he polished off the potatoes. He did say that the cherry sauce made the dish. He liked it! Wow!!!