Christmas duck recipes | Jamie Oliver poultry recipes (2024)

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Easy Christmas roast duck with crispy potatoes and port gravy

A festive feast

Christmas duck recipes | Jamie Oliver poultry recipes (2)

A festive feast

“This whole roast duck stuffed with festive spices makes a gorgeous change to Christmas turkey ”

Serves 10

Cooks In3 hours plus marinating and resting time

DifficultyNot too tricky

ChristmasDinner PartyBritishPotato

Nutrition per serving
  • Calories 652 33%

  • Fat 42.4g 61%

  • Saturates 12.2g 61%

  • Sugars 11g 12%

  • Salt 1.5g 25%

  • Protein 19.6g 39%

  • Carbs 45.4g 17%

  • Fibre 6.2g -

Of an adult's reference intake

Tap For Method

Ingredients

  • 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 1 nutmeg
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 oranges or blood oranges
  • 2 x 2 kg whole ducks , necks and giblets reserved and roughly
  • 8 cloves garlic
  • 3 red onions
  • a few stalks celery
  • 3 carrots
  • 5cm piece fresh ginger
  • ½ stick cinnamon
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 2 kg Maris Piper potatoes
  • 1 litre water or organic chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons plain flour
  • 200 ml Port

Tap For Method

The cost per serving below is generated by Whisk.com and is based on costs in individual supermarkets. For more information about how we calculate costs per serving read our FAQS

Tap For Ingredients

Method

  1. Pick the leaves off one rosemary sprig. Grate half the nutmeg and zest both oranges. Cut the oranges in half and set aside for stuffing the duck.
  2. Put everything on a board with one tablespoon of sea salt and chop it all up. Rub the mixture all over the ducks, inside and out. Cover and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to let the flavours penetrate.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and arrange the shelves on the middle and bottom levels. Stuff the ducks with the remaining rosemary sprigs, garlic cloves and reserved orange halves.
  4. Peel and quarter the onions, then trim and roughly chop the celery and carrots. Peel and chop the ginger. Scatter the veg and ginger in the bottom of a large, deep-sided roasting tray with the cinnamon and bay leaves. Roughly chop the reserved duck neck and giblets and add to the mix.
  5. Place the ducks breast-side up, straight on to the bars of the middle shelf, then pop the veg-filled roasting tray on the bottom shelf beneath the ducks ready to catch all the lovely fat that drips out of them.
  6. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks. Pop them in a pan and cover with cold, salted water. Bring to a simmer and parboil for 5 to 10 minutes, then tip into a colander and chuff them up a little.
  7. After the duck has roasted for an hour, take the bottom tray out of the oven, replacing it immediately with an empty tray. Spoon the fat from the veggie tray into a bowl. Put all the veg, duck bits and juices into a large saucepan, then add a little boiling water to the tray to get all the sticky brown bits off the bottom – this is what you’re going to make your gravy with. Tip the water and brown bits into the pan with the veg, top up with 1 litre of water or chicken stock and place on a medium heat, skimming off any of the fat that rises to the top.
  8. Put your parboiled potatoes into the empty tray in the oven. Add a few more tablespoons of duck fat from the bowl, season, and place back underneath the ducks to cook for an hour.
  9. Meanwhile, heat a saucepan and add 2 tablespoons of duck fat. When it’s hot and melted, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a paste. Stir in the contents of the saucepan and the Port. Bring the gravy to the boil and simmer gently for half an hour, stirring occasionally. By now the ducks will have had 2 hours in the oven and will be done. Lift them on to a plate, cover loosely with tin foil and leave to rest for about 15 minutes.
  10. Pour the gravy through a sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing down on all the veg and other bits to extract as many flavours and juices as you can. Keep the gravy warm in the saucepan, again skimming off any fat on the surface.
  11. When you're ready to dish up – don’t carve the ducks! The best thing to do is to pull the meat away from the bones with a pair of tongs or with your fingers wearing clean kitchen gloves, then let everyone fight over the delicious skin. Serve with your potatoes and gravy.

Related features

52 Festive alternatives to Turkey

Why we should buy free-range duck

Jamie’s handy guide to roasting meat

Related video

How to roast a goose, part 1: Jamie’s Food Team

© 2024 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited

© 2024 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited

Christmas duck recipes | Jamie Oliver poultry recipes (2024)

FAQs

How does Jamie Oliver cook a duck? ›

Method
  1. Heat the oven to 180°C/350ºF/gas 4. ...
  2. Mix the Chinese five-spice with a good pinch of salt and pepper and rub all over the duck, inside and out. ...
  3. Remove the tray from the oven. ...
  4. After the duck has had 2 hours, remove the tray from the oven and, once again, spoon the fat out of the tray and into the bowl.

What seasonings go well with duck? ›

Combine the smoked paprika, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, five spice powder, dry mustard and some salt and pepper in a bowl. Using a sharp knife, score the skin of the duck so it has a 1/4-inch diamond pattern. Rub the spice mixture all over the duck.

Why do you boil duck before roasting? ›

Pat duck dry. With a large sharp fork, prick the skin all over (approach at an angle) being careful not to pierce the meat (if meat is pierced, it will dry out). Carefully put the duck in the pot of boiling water; boil for 10 minutes. This will help render out some of the fat.

What vegetable goes best with duck? ›

Cabbage – Cabbage is most likely the most common side dish that's paired with duck meat.

Why do you soak duck in milk? ›

Soaking ducks in various liquids is a common “cure” for the taste that seems offensive to many. Some soak duck breast in milk, wine, bourbon, salt water and probably a bunch of other stuff.

Should I sear a duck before roasting? ›

The journey towards perfectly roasted or baked duck breast entails commencing with a searing process. This initial step sets the foundation for achieving the ideal oven-roasted duck breast—a tantalizingly golden and crisp exterior juxtaposed with a succulent, flavorful interior.

What should you soak your duck meat in before cooking it? ›

By definition, a brine is simply a mix of water and salt. Some like adding seasoning to the brine, but that is a matter of personal taste. Blood is drawn out when wild game meat is soaked in the brine, and the brine penetrates the meat. The result is milder, more tender meat for your favorite recipe.

Should you cover a duck when roasting? ›

- Cover in baking foil, folding to seal the edges to the edges of the tray (this will keep in the steam while in the oven). - Roast for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bacon, reduce the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and roast for another hour.

How do you make duck taste good? ›

Duck breast fillets can be brined for six to 12 hours. If you're short on time, just a few hours in the brine will always help. Once brined, give your ducks a rinse with cold water, pat dry and start your favorite recipe.

What fruit goes best with duck? ›

Mouth-watering duck was made to pair with fruits, like blueberries, cherries, cranberries, apricots, currants, dates, figs, citrus fruits, mangoes, peaches, pears, pomegranates, prunes, and grapes. Seared Duck Breast with Pear Chutney not only has pears, but raisins and orange juice.

What is a famous duck dish? ›

Peking Duck

Peking Duck is a very famous Chinese dish, and this recipe shows the easier and tastier version to make at home. This delicious duck is packed with five-spice flavors and is cooked to perfection.

What is the cooking technique that is used to cook the duck? ›

Rub the duck generously with flaky sea salt, then lay, breast-side down, on a rack over a roasting tray. Roast the duck for 3 hrs, pricking again every now and then. Turn the oven up to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and turn the duck over, roast for 30 mins and then rest for 10 mins.

How is duck supposed to be cooked? ›

The USDA recommends 165°F (74°C) internal temperature for all poultry. But because duck is not a common carrier of salmonella and its meat is more akin to lamb or beef, Hank Shaw, author and chef, says that “Rare-to-medium is the mantra” when it comes to duck breast.

How to prepare the best duck? ›

Combine paprika, salt, and pepper in a small bowl; rub spice mixture onto skin of duck. Place duck in a roasting pan. Roast in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Spoon 1/4 cup melted butter over duck and continue cooking for 45 minutes more.

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