Culinary Roast Duck Preparation from the Kitchen at Amalie Robert Estate

Hello and Welcome,

We wrote this preparation guide several years ago, and it has been one of our most popular downloads. We have updated it many times over the years to reflect our most current thinking on this timeless classic.

One of the MOST important keys to the success of this preparation is the type of duck you choose to roast. We have tailored this preparation to the White Pekin breed of duck. These ducks are less fatty, more tender and produce a superior result. We have continually verified this through years of “Quality Control” replicated trials. As they say in Italy, never trust a skinny chef.

While duck hunting is a fall activity enjoyed by many, your best bet is a visit to the Maple Leaf Farms website. Look for the “Whole Duck” offerings. You may miss out on the thrill of the hunt, but that feeling will be greatly overcome by the satisfaction of actually having a duck to roast. If you choose to harvest a wild duck, be sure to check for lead pellets. No one enjoys a holiday visit to the dentist as much as the dentist does.

Pre-prep:

Our first activity is to prepare the duck for rendering some fat and crisping the skin. Note: this process will produce some smoke from the oven. We usually have a few windows open in the kitchen to keep us vented and eat in the dining room. Remember, you cannot make an omelet without first breaking a few eggs.

Our preparation uses a roasting pan with an elevated roasting rack as shown. This is a fairly basic rack that allows full access to the bird. If you do not already have an elevated roasting rack, a quick trip on the internet will provide a wide range of options and styles to choose from. We do NOT recommend using a traditional broiler rack. Hot duck fat will accumulate on the top and it will be very hard to control.

Line the bottom of the roasting pan with aluminum foil. Do not put foil over the roasting rack as it will fill with HOT duck fat as noted above. Set the upper oven rack so that the duck will rest below the upper element by about 2 inches. You will be glad that you performed these measurements BEFORE preheating the oven. Now, you may preheat the oven to 350 and sample the Pinot Noir to ensure its proper temperature.

Pinot Noir is highly affected by temperature. We recommend a serving temperature around 65 degrees. Too cold and the bouquet is muted. Too warm and the delicacy of the aromas are lost. Maintaining a proper serving temperature is easy. We reserve a special spot in the door of the refrigerator for just this purpose. It’s just wine. Like you - complex yes, complicated no.

We will now score the duck skin and place the bird on the elevated roasting rack breast side up. Due to your pre-prep planning, your FROZEN Maple Leaf Farms whole duck has arrived AND had time to thaw before preheating the oven. Success leaves clues…

On a solid surface, such as a large cutting board or countertop covered with wax paper, score each side of the breast. Begin at the breastbone and angle up towards the wing joints. Gently bring the blade over the skin. Be careful to not cut the meat under the skin. Repeat with a parallel cut every inch or so. Perform the same procedure on the other half of the breast. Remove the wing tips.

The thighs are the fattiest portion of the duck and you will also score those. Turn the duck on its side and score vertically through the fatty portion of the thigh. Again, do not cut so deeply that you cut into the meat. Repeat on the other side.

Finally, cut the skin and tendons just above the leg joint in a circular fashion. This will allow the skin and meat to rise up the leg bone and remain moist. The result will be a Duck Leg Lollipop!

Seasoning is subject to your personal preferences. However, we keep it simple with a dried Italian herb blend, smoked paprika and ground ginger. Black sesame seeds are also an interesting visual addition. People eat with their eyes first. Set the bird on the elevated roasting rack breast side up and apply your seasoning.

How is that Pinot Noir temperature? Should be pretty good right about now. We recommend serving Pinot Noir in a tulip shaped glass such as the Riedel Vinum series. There are several producers of Pinot Noir glasses and you can follow this link to Forbes to read more. Whichever glass you choose, an important point is to rinse the glass with non-chlorinated water. We recommend bottled water whenever practicable.

Roasting with a convection oven:

Place the roasting rack with the duck breast side up on the premeasured upper most rack in the preheated oven. Set the oven to Broil and let this cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Keep an eye on things here, as you will have duck fat and high heat in close proximity.

The objective here is to render the fat from the duck. We usually end up with a deep golden brown hue on the breast, but if you feel it is too much, take it out sooner. Verify the remaining Pinot Noir bouquet is commensurate with the duck. Secure a second bottle if necessary.

Remove the duck and place it on a heat resistant surface, hot pad or cook top. BE CAREFUL as the roasting pan will now contain HOT rendered duck fat. Liquified duck fat is subject to the laws of gravity. One slip of the wrist and it will be on the floor, or you, whichever it encounters first. And it is HOT enough to give you a first hand impression of what entering a medieval castle uninvited may have felt like. Besides, you are going to want to harvest that duck fat to cook eggs in the next morning.

Set the oven to Convection Roast at 350 degrees and move the rack to the center of the oven. Turn the duck over so that the breast is now facing down and return it to the oven on the centrally located rack. Please consider this step when selecting the size of the duck you are roasting. A 4 pound bird is much easier to turn than a 6 pound bird. Roast for about 45 minutes. The leg joint should move fairly freely when done. Remember that duck breast is best served medium to medium rare.

Toast your accomplishment with a sip of Pinot Noir, even if you must open that second bottle to do so. Often times we find the wine we cook with has mysteriously “evaporated” in the kitchen environment before dinner is ready. For this reason, we often choose a lighter bodied vintage Pinot Noir that has had some time to age. Cooler vintages typically are lower in alcohol and higher in acidity. They can stand on their own and entertain themselves while we are getting busy in the kitchen. When you invite your dinner guests, try and make your vintage requests as specific as you can.

For the last 5 minutes of roasting, turn the duck once more so that the breast is facing upward. This will allow the fat to drain from the scored skin. Prepare your carvery area with the following tools: a large cutting board with a recessed fat drain, poultry shears, a very sharp boning knife and a hand towel. This will be your last chance for a sip of Pinot Noir for a little while, so make the most of it.

Serving:

Remove the duck from the oven and place on the cutting board. Let stand, or sit, covered in aluminum foil for about 10 minutes to allow the juices to cool before carving. At this point your side dishes should be finished or are arriving with your guests along with their predesignated vintage wines. Serving dishes, plates and bowls should be in the warming oven.

Duck is a very rich meat, so we enjoy pairing a slightly bitter green such as roasted Brussels sprouts. Conversely, a sweeter pairing is buttered corn on the cob. Some people run with the traffic, others not so much. Roasted carnival or delicata squash is obligatory. Fall preparations will also benefit from foraged mushrooms such as chanterelles and morels. That first bite of duck with wild mushroom and a sip of Pinot Noir will quiet the dining room. The final course is optional, but we enjoy a little Fourme d’Ambert with whatever Pinot Noir is left after the meal. This includes the last bottle, which may still be in the box…

SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER:

We have curated a set of wines that pair well with our culinary roast duck preparation – they are tried and true. We have included vintages cool and warm. We have also chosen wines with bottle age to show you the magic of whole cluster fermentation. These tannins evolve in the bottle and seem to begin their peak at about 7 to 10 years after vintage. The stem tannin in the wine’s finish is what we call the third half of Pinot Noir.

You will also find a few other wines that can round out your holiday menu. Pinot in Pink is a festive rose of Pinot Noir. The Heirloom Cameo is our BFC (Barrel Fermented Chardonnay), our answer to White Burgundy. Gewürztraminer is a small production (12 cases) passion project, fermented to dryness with delicate aromatics and a light touch. Pinot Meunier, which is typically used as a blending grape in Champagne, we make as a highly aromatic, light bodied red wine. Think Gamay, but with a bit more sophistication. And our Satisfaction Syrah is done in a cool climate, Northern Rhône style.

Please visit our curated selection of holiday wines here. We are offering promotional pricing on our curated wine selection, mix and match! 3 bottle orders will receive a 5% wine discount, 6 bottle orders will receive a 10% wine discount, and 12 bottle orders will receive a 20% wine discount with shipping included! Your promotional pricing will automatically be adjusted based on the number of bottles you select.

We can ship wine nationwide with UPS ground in the continental United States. Please email Dena for shipping options to Alaska and Hawaii.

“Dena Drews and Ernie Pink are in no hurry to release their wines. If you know the wines and how they age, it makes great sense for the buyer, but it’s a pretty amazing sacrifice on the part of the winery. The vineyard is located just outside of Dallas, at the western end of the Willamette Valley. Their 35 acres directly abut the legendary Freedom Hill vineyard, which should give an idea of the quality of this location. This is a very low-profile operation, by design, but the consistently high quality of its wines has earned it a loyal, almost secret-handshake following that goes back to when Drews and Pink set up shop in 1999. The winemaking here is decidedly low-impact, and the resulting wines are elegant, focused and understated, with the balance to age gracefully (hence the late release policy) and positively. There aren’t many “insider” wineries left in this increasingly popular and well-traveled region, but Amalie Robert definitely qualifies.” – Josh Raynolds, Vinous, February 2022

Kindest Regards,

Dena & Ernie