Home recipe kuchnia polska

Roast Duck with Apples

Name: Roast Duck with Apples
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 180 min
Total time: 210 min
Cuisine: kuchnia polska
Ingredients: 1 pc duck (2.2–2.5 kg, gutted); 1 tbsp salt (flat); ½ tsp ground black pepper (or up to 1 teaspoon); 2 tbsp dried marjoram (flat); 1 clove garlic (pressed; not necessary); 1 pinch caraway (not necessary); 3 pcs sour apples (2–3 pieces, total 300–450 g, preferably gray renet; peeled, cored, quartered); 1 tbsp dried marjoram (for the apples); 4 pcs apples (3–4 pieces, about 500 g, halved, cored); 20 g butter (melted); 150 ml water (100–200 ml, depending on the baking dish); wine (a few tablespoons for drizzling; not necessary)

A whole duck rubbed with salt and marjoram, stuffed with sour apples, and roasted in a baking dish until the skin is crispy. Here’s how to roast it step by step, how to check if it’s done, and what kind of duck to buy abroad.

Servings: 4 servings
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 3 h 30 min
Difficulty: Medium

Polska pieczona kaczka z jabłkami, z ciemną skórką w ziołach, na półmisku w kwiaty, otoczona pieczonymi ćwiartkami jabłek

The story behind the recipe

On the List of Traditional Products by the Ministry of Agriculture, there are two ducks with apples. The "Duck with Apples from the Tuchola Forest" from Pomerania, registered in 2014, is a duck weighing 1.5–2 kg, which is rubbed with salt and marjoram a few hours before roasting, stuffed with sour apples, preferably gray renets (antonówki were considered too soft), brushed with butter, and roasted covered in a baking dish with a little water, but not too much, so the sauce is "browned." It was eaten on special occasions, at family gatherings, and on Sundays, served with potatoes and white or red cabbage. This description was created from conversations with the residents of Wądoły. The second, "Duck with Apples from the Chojnów Manor" from Mazovia, registered in 2018, was the most commonly prepared dish in the 19th-century Chełchowski manor in Chojnow. Halfway through roasting, it is drizzled with wine or water, and half an hour before the end, halved apples are placed around it. The manor staff then cooked it at home for Sundays and holidays, and in the 1970s, women prepared it according to the manor recipe at the local cooperative's "Practical Lady Center."

Duck with apples is an old combination. Lucyna Ćwierczakiewiczowa has "Roasted Ducks with Apples" and "Roasted Ducks with Beets" in her menus. "Lithuanian Cook" from 1913 instructs to rub ducks with caraway and marjoram and stuff them with sour apples, while "Polish Cuisine" published in Inowrocław in 1912 adds a bit of marjoram and allspice to the apples, "English root." Elżbieta Kiewnarska wrote in 1929: "In Poland, duck is usually eaten with baked apples," and as an "excellent addition," she recommended braised red cabbage instead of apples.

In Poznań, as reported by the In Your Pocket guide, duck Poznań style is served with apples, blue cabbage, and yeast dumplings, and it is on the menu of almost every traditional restaurant in the city. When this way of serving began is unknown. In Silesia, duck with apples is eaten with black and white dumplings and red cabbage, as reported by the Silesian Tourist Organization. Roasted duck does not have a protected EU name.

Ingredients

Duck

1 pc duck (2.2–2.5 kg, gutted)
Abroad: USA: White Pekin (Long Island duckling), about 5 lb; UK: Gressingham; Germany: Pekingente; Australia: Luv-a-Duck

Rub

1 tbsp (about 18 g) salt (flat)
½ tsp (2.5 ml) ground black pepper (or up to 1 teaspoon)
2 tbsp (30 ml) dried marjoram (flat)
Abroad: dried marjoram; Germany: Majoran, getrocknet
1 clove garlic (pressed; not necessary)
1 pinch caraway (not necessary)

For the inside

3 pcs sour apples (2–3 pieces, total 300–450 g, preferably gray renet; peeled, cored, quartered)
Abroad: USA and UK: Granny Smith; Germany: Boskoop (Boskop)
1 tbsp (15 ml) dried marjoram (for the apples)

Around the duck

4 pcs apples (3–4 pieces, about 500 g, halved, cored)
Abroad: USA and UK: Granny Smith; Germany: Boskoop (Boskop)

For baking

20 g butter (melted)
150 ml water (100–200 ml, depending on the baking dish)
wine (a few tablespoons for drizzling; not necessary)

Method, step by step

The day before: if the duck is frozen, thaw it in the refrigerator. Rinse it and dry it thoroughly. Mix salt, pepper, marjoram, and if you like, garlic and caraway, and rub the duck inside and out. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight, for up to a day.
One hour before roasting, take the duck out of the refrigerator to bring it to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Peel the apples for the inside, remove the cores, cut them into quarters, and mix with a tablespoon of marjoram.
Stuff the duck loosely with the apples, without packing them tightly. Secure the opening with toothpicks or sew it shut and tie the legs. Prick the skin, especially under the wings and near the thighs, to allow the fat to render.
Place the duck in the baking dish breast side up, drizzle with melted butter, and pour a little water into the bottom.
Roast for 30 minutes at 220°C uncovered. Then reduce the temperature to 180°C, cover the baking dish, and roast for about 2 hours. Occasionally baste the duck with the sauce from the baking dish or a little wine, and collect excess fat in a bowl.
Halfway through roasting under the cover, turn the duck breast side up.
For the last 30 minutes, place the halved apples around the duck and drizzle them with the sauce. Remove the cover and roast until the skin is golden and crispy. If it browns too quickly, reduce the temperature.
Check with a thermometer that the thickest part of the thigh and breast reaches 74°C. Also check the inside stuffing of the apples: it should also be 74°C. If not, continue roasting and check every few minutes.
Remove the duck and let it rest for 10 minutes. Take out the apples from the inside, carve the duck into portions: thighs, breast halves, and wings. Serve with the roasted apples and sauce from the baking dish, from which you will collect the fat.

Tips

Pale, rubbery skin. The duck was covered the whole time. For the last 20–30 minutes, remove the lid and increase the oven temperature.

The top is burning, and the meat is still tough. Cover the duck with a lid or foil and lower the temperature. A strong or gas oven easily burns the skin, so check the duck.

Greasy sauce. During roasting, collect excess fat from the baking dish. Do not pour it out: Magda Gessler stews apples for serving in 1–2 tablespoons of duck fat, with lemon juice, sugar, and marjoram.

Apples turn to mush. Antonówki are too soft. Use sour and firm apples.

Too much water. The sauce comes out pale. Pour only a little water into the baking dish and add more if needed.

On a rack. If the duck is on a rack above the baking dish, there’s no need to turn it.

Order of roasting. Recipes vary. Ania Gotuje roasts at 220°C covered, and at the end uncovered. The Dworek restaurant from Skierniewice starts with 30 minutes at 230°C uncovered, then roasts for 2 hours covered at 180°C. Magda Gessler roasts at 180°C for about 2 hours and covers the duck when it browns. They all share one thing: crispy skin needs roasting uncovered at the beginning or end. This recipe includes both.

Safety. The USDA FSIS states that a whole duck should be roasted to 74°C (165°F), measured in the thickest part of the thigh and breast. The meat may still be pink and is safe. The same agency advises against stuffing a whole duck. If you stuff it with apples, check with a thermometer that the inside stuffing also reaches 74°C. Thaw frozen duck in the refrigerator, which takes a day or two, or in cold water, changing it every 30 minutes, but never on the countertop. Do not partially roast the duck to finish cooking later.

Servings. One duck yields 4 large portions, and if cut into smaller pieces, it can serve up to 6 people.

What to serve with. With potatoes and white or red cabbage. In Poznań with blue cabbage and dumplings, in Silesia with Silesian dumplings or black dumplings and red cabbage. Beetroot, kopytka (Polish potato dumplings), gray dumplings, horseradish with cream, and cranberry, raspberry, or currant preserves also pair well.

Variations. Ania Gotuje adds dried cranberries to the apples inside. Kiewnarska stuffed the duck with breadcrumbs mixed with butter, egg, and dill or liver stuffing. "Lithuanian Cook" adds caraway to the marjoram.

Storage. According to the USDA, the roasted duck should be cooled within 2 hours in shallow, covered containers. It will last in the fridge for 3–4 days and in the freezer for 2–3 months. Reheat to 74°C or eat cold. Ania Gotuje advises removing leftover meat from the bones, storing it in glass, and reheating it in a pan or adding it to salads and sandwiches.

Abroad. In the USA, the standard is White Pekin duck, often sold as "Long Island duckling." A whole duck weighing about 5 lb (about 2.3 kg) corresponds to the Polish one, but it is usually frozen, so plan for 1–2 days to thaw in the refrigerator. In the UK, you can buy Gressingham duck, for example, at Morrisons and Ocado, whole at about 1.7 kg and 2–2.2 kg. It has more meat on the breast and less fat. In Germany, the most popular and fattest is Pekingente. Flugente, or Barbary duck, is leaner, renders less fat, and has drier breast meat, so baste it with butter. In Australia, frozen Luv-a-Duck ducks are sold, also at Woolworths. Gray renet is rare abroad. Use a firm, sour apple that holds its shape, such as Granny Smith or in Germany Boskoop. Bramley is very sour but falls apart, so it is better suited for stewed apples for serving. Marjoram is dried marjoram, in Germany Majoran, getrocknet.

Photos

Przekrojona pieczona kaczka z miękkimi, upieczonymi jabłkami w środku

Pieczona kaczka podzielona na 6 porcji, z jabłkami w brytfannie

Modra kapusta po poznańsku w misce, dodatek do kaczki

Meat dishes Polish cuisine Substitutes abroad

I made it

Did you make this dish? Tell us how it turned out and what you changed. You can add a photo and a rating.