Andesteg med Aebler og Svesker

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Deep roasting tin with a fitted rack
• •Kitchen twine or metal skewers for closing the cavity
• •Sharp skewer or small knife for pricking the skin
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Fine-mesh sieve for straining the gravy
• •Warm serving platter or carving board

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the duck

   Take the duck out of the fridge a full hour before you begin. A cold bird in a hot oven seizes up and the fat underneath the skin never renders properly. While the duck comes to room temperature, heat the oven to 160°C. Pull away any loose fat from inside the cavity, especially around the opening. That fat will melt and pool in the pan, which is useful for basting, but too much inside the bird steams the meat rather than roasting it.

   Keep the rendered duck fat after roasting. Strain it into a clean jar and refrigerate. There is nothing better for roasting potatoes, and one duck gives you enough fat for months.
2. 2

   Prick and season the skin

   Using a sharp skewer or the tip of a small knife, prick the duck skin all over, concentrating on the breast and the thick fatty areas around the thighs. You want to pierce the skin and the fat layer beneath it, but not the meat. This is important. The tiny holes give the fat an escape route during the long roast. Without them, the fat stays trapped under the skin and you get flabby, pale duck instead of crackling. Rub the coarse salt firmly into the skin, pressing it into every puncture and every fold. Follow with the black pepper. Coarse salt matters here. Fine salt dissolves and vanishes. Coarse salt grips the surface and draws out moisture as it roasts, and dry skin is what crackles.

   Hold the skewer at a low angle, almost parallel to the surface. You want to pierce through the fat layer without reaching the flesh beneath. If you hit meat, you lose juices. The fat layer is thicker than you think, especially on the breast.
3. 3

   Stuff with apples and prunes

   Season the inside of the cavity with a small pinch of salt. Fill it loosely with the quartered apples and pitted prunes, alternating as you go. Don't pack them tight. The fruit needs room to soften and release its juices, which perfume the meat from the inside as it roasts. The apples break down into a tart mush that cuts through the richness of the duck. The prunes go dark and jammy and sweet. Together they balance the fat in a way that no sauce alone can manage. Close the cavity by threading a skewer through the skin or tying the legs together with kitchen twine. It doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to hold.

4. 4

   Begin the slow roast

   Place the duck breast-side up on a rack set inside a deep roasting tin. The rack keeps the bird out of the fat that collects below, so the heat circulates evenly and the underside doesn't stew. Pour a cup of water into the bottom of the tin. This stops the drippings from burning during the first hours and creates the base for your gravy later. Slide the tin into the oven and leave the duck alone for the first hour. Do not open the door. The oven needs to hold its steady, gentle heat. A duck wants slow cooking, the opposite of a roast chicken. The long, low heat melts the fat layer gradually, basting the meat from within, and the skin tightens and dries as the hours pass.

5. 5

   Baste through the middle hours

   After the first hour, open the oven and spoon the collected pan juices over the breast and legs. Do this every thirty to forty minutes for the next two and a half hours. Each basting adds a thin glaze that builds flavour on the skin. You'll notice the colour deepening from pale gold to amber to a rich, lacquered brown. If the pan juices reduce too much, add a splash more water to the tin. The roasting tin should never run dry. At the three hour mark, check the fat around the thighs. If it's still thick and pale, the temperature is right and the fat is still rendering. If the skin is browning too fast, tent the breast loosely with foil.

   Spoon the fat off partway through if the pan is getting very full. Reserve it. This is liquid gold for brunede kartofler, the caramelised potatoes that belong alongside this duck.
6. 6

   Crisp the skin

   In the final thirty minutes, raise the oven temperature to 220°C. This is the moment the skin transforms. The surface is already dry from hours of slow rendering, and the blast of high heat blisters it into something shattering under a knife and deeply bronzed. Watch it closely. The line between perfect crackling and burnt is about five minutes. When the skin is the colour of dark honey and sounds hollow when you tap the breast with a wooden spoon, the duck is done. A thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, not touching bone, should read 75°C.

7. 7

   Rest the duck

   Lift the duck off the rack and onto a warm serving platter or carving board. Tent it loosely with foil and let it rest for twenty minutes. Resting is not optional. During the roast, the heat has driven all the juices toward the centre of the bird. Resting lets them redistribute back through the meat so that when you carve, the slices are moist throughout instead of dry at the edges and flooded at the centre. The skin stays crisp under the loose foil. Tight wrapping traps steam and softens everything you spent four hours building.

8. 8

   Make the brun sovs

   While the duck rests, set the roasting tin on the hob over medium heat. Spoon off all but two tablespoons of the fat, leaving the dark, sticky drippings on the bottom. Add the butter and let it foam. Sprinkle in the flour, stir it through, and cook for a minute until it smells toasty and has turned a shade darker. Pour in the stock gradually, stirring and scraping the bottom of the tin to dissolve every caramelised bit. These are where the flavour lives. Bring it to a simmer, stir in the cream and the ribsgele. The redcurrant jelly adds a gentle tartness and a glossy depth that belongs in Danish brun sovs. Use real ribsgele, not jam. Jam is too sweet and muddles the flavour. Simmer for five minutes until the gravy coats the back of a spoon. Taste it. Season with fine sea salt. Strain into a warm jug.

   If the gravy is too thick, add a splash more stock. If too thin, simmer it a few minutes longer. You want it to pour easily but cling to the meat, not run off the plate.
9. 9

   Carve and serve

   Remove the skewer or twine and spoon the softened fruit stuffing into a warm bowl to serve alongside. Carve the duck at the table if you can. Start with the legs, which should pull away almost on their own after four hours. Then slice the breast against the grain in long, even pieces. Every plate gets dark meat, breast meat, a spoonful of the apple and prune stuffing, and a generous pour of brun sovs. Brunede kartofler and rodkal, the sweet-sour braised red cabbage, belong next to this bird. They always have. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Use coarse salt on the skin, not fine. Coarse salt grips the surface and draws out moisture during the roast. Fine salt dissolves on contact and does almost nothing for the crackling. Rub it into every puncture you've made. The salt needs to reach the fat layer to do its work.
• •Don't stuff the duck too tightly. The apples and prunes swell as they cook, and a tightly packed bird bursts its stitching and steams the fruit instead of roasting it. Fill loosely, about two-thirds full, and leave room for the juices to circulate.
• •Save every drop of rendered duck fat. Strain it through a fine sieve into a jar and refrigerate. It keeps for months and there is nothing better for roasting potatoes or frying eggs. One Christmas duck gives you enough fat to carry into February.
• •If you can find Danish apples, use them. Ingrid Marie or Belle de Boskoop are tart and firm and hold their shape longer in the heat. Granny Smith works well too. Avoid anything sweet and soft. The stuffing needs acidity to cut through the fat.
• •Ribsgele, real redcurrant jelly, makes the gravy. Don't substitute raspberry jam or cranberry sauce. Ribsgele has a clean tartness and a subtle bitterness that rounds the pan drippings into something that tastes like it belongs with this bird. You'll find it in Scandinavian shops or make it yourself from summer redcurrants.

Advance Preparation

• •Take the duck out of the fridge a full hour before roasting. A room-temperature bird roasts more evenly than a cold one, and the fat begins rendering sooner.
• •The rodkal (braised red cabbage) can and should be made a day or two ahead. It improves with time. Reheat gently while the duck rests.
• •Brunede kartofler are best made just before serving, while the duck rests and the gravy comes together. Boil the potatoes ahead and keep them warm.
• •The brun sovs can be started with the pan drippings as soon as the duck comes out. It takes ten minutes, which fits perfectly inside the resting time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 380g)