DUCK/GOOSE ALA KRAUT
*Two whole plucked ducks
*Canned sauerkraut to cover above (depending on roaster pan size)
*One to two cups chicken broth (depending on roaster pan size)
*Salt and pepper to taste
*Bacon grease (optional)
This is a bachelor-cook’s recipe that doesn’t follow strict measurements. It is easy and mouthwatering tasty. If the pan is spacious enough, put three birds in it and increase the other ingredients accordingly. However many you cook, I warrant you’ll wish you had done more!
Make a bed of sauerkraut in bottom of roaster pan at least one inch thick (fluffed). Lightly grease birds with bacon fat, if desired, before placing in pan. Stuff body cavities, loosely but fully, with kraut. Place birds on top of bed of kraut in pan, preferably not touching sides of the pan. Fork kraut evenly over tops of birds, around sides and between birds and sides of pan (prevents charring and sticking). Salt and pepper to taste.
Cook at 375 degrees F. for one hour or until done. Two birds usually serve four people - if each eats only their share.
I place sauerkraut in the same category that I do cooked spinach; edible - incredible! However, when used as stated above, its transformation is miraculous. We discard the kraut stuffed in the body cavity for safety reasons (salmonella!!) but the kraut used as bedding for the birds loses its bitterness and literally becomes transformed by the drippings. We eat it with relish. While grain fed ducks are a known prize in the kitchen, so-called fish-eating ducks are magically converted by this recipe into delectable morsels as well.
“TRASH” STUFFING FOR ALL ROAST FOWLS
When stuffing a fowl’s body cavity, consider the option of stuffing it with “trash.”
While crafting a sizeable meal, considerable waste is thrown out that could enhance the cooking process. Lettuce trimmings, carrot tops, potato peels, onion trimmings, celery tops and so on. As long as washed, clean and fresh, use them to stuff the fowl’s cavity to impart flavor and maintain moistness during cooking.
Because of a danger of salmonella poisoning it is not recommended to eat stuffing from this area anyway. So, for maximum flavoring enhancement, why not utilize material in the body cavity that you planned to discard anyway. In addition, add orange or lemon peels/quarters and chunked leeks to the mixture as aromatics to further enhance flavor of a roasted bird.
A cook at Camdenton, Missouri’s Vo-Tech School imparted this tip during a wild game cooking class she “assisted” me at. I am forever in her debt.
Cliff Keeler