From Kiy: About two weeks ago I had a brainstorm (scary, yes). I decided I wanted to surprise Jeff with a duck for Christmas dinner. He loves it and I've only made it once in our 15 years of marriage. You see, it completely trashes the inside of the oven. Grease and yuck *everywhere*. So, while he says it was tasty I never again attempted to make duck as the cleanup was so over-the-top. Seriously.
At first, I was thinking make it in one of those baking bags. But then, got to thinking of Steph over at A Year of Crockpotting. I searched and searched her blog but could not find anything about duck. So a quick email later, I had my duck recipe. Not only that, but she make duck TWICE! I am telling you, this gal rocks! She made two, both of which look amazing. I chose the one I am posting but linked to both as they both do look good (if I were to actually eat duck, which I don't). Thanks Steph, you made it possible for me to give my sweet hubby the Christmas dinner I wanted for him!
(This was her first post on crockpot duck.)
Day 351.
I have cracked the
duck-in-the-crockpot code. You need to use a rack. Too much liquid forms in the pot, and the meat needs to be up above it. I used a little round rack that came with my rice cooker, but you could use anything---an inverted ramekin to lift the bird up out of the collected juice, a collapsible steamer basket, foil balls, etc.
This duck tastes great, is seasoned nicely, and held up in the crockpot. Here's how to make traditional Peking Duck, and here's how I made it crockpot-friendly:
The Ingredients:
4 to 5 pound duck
5 whole green onions
4 star anise
1 inch ginger, peeled
2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice (or you can make your own)
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 T honey
2 T soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat-free are GF)
The Directions:
Use a 6 quart crockpot, and insert a cooking rack of some sort in the bottom of your pot. Wash the green onions and lay on top of the rack.
Skin the duck the best you can. Peel ginger and stuff inside cavity, with the star anise. In a small bowl, combine dry spices. Rub all over the bird, inside and out. Place the duck inside your crockpot, breast up. (I did breast down yesterday, and that was a mistake. It got too soggy.) Drizzle on soy sauce and honey.
Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Serve with plum sauce.
I made a down-and-dirty plum sauce:
1/3 cup plum jam
1 T soy sauce (La Choy is GF)
1 T sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
The Verdict:
I was much happier at how this duck held up in the crockpot, and how most of the grease dripped away. The meat was nicely seasoned, and tasted great. We really liked the plum sauce. The kids ended up eating little smokies in bbq sauce because it was the Girl Scouts Holiday Party and that was our offering (done in a crockpot, of course).
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Question was asked in her comments: Does the duck need to be skinned.?
Steph’s reply: It needs to be skinned *for me*---I have weird skin issues.
I think the skin on top will brown, but the skin on the sides and bottom will be pretty soggy. If you're up for it, you can remove the bird and broil it for a bit to brown and crispify the skin.
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