Free Recipe Braised Duck with Orange-And-Lime Sauce

Recipe Preparation: boil
Recipe Serves: 1

Ingredients for Braised Duck with Orange-And-Lime Sauce Recipe

Braised Duck with Orange and Lime Sauce

5 lb To 5 1/2 pound duck
1/4 c Vegetable oil
2 c Chicken stock, fresh or
-canned
12 Whole cloves
1 Fresh hot chilli *
1/2 c Strained fresh orange juice
2 tb Strained fresh lime juice
1/2 c Finely chopped sweet bell pepper, preferably red
1/4 ts Salt

Braised Duck with Orange-And-Lime Sauce Preparation

Orange wedges or slices studded with whole cloves for garnish * about 1 1/2 to 2inches long, stemmed and seeded.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Pat the duck completely dry inside and out with paper towels, and remove the large chunks of fat from the cavity. Cut off the loose neck skin and truss the bird securely, then prick the surface around the thighs, the back and the lower part of the breast with a skewer or the point of a sharp knife.

In a heavy 5- to 6-quart casserole, heat the oil over moderate heat until a light haze forms above it. Add the duck and, turning it frequently with a slotted spoon or tongs, cook for about 15 minutes, or until it browns richly on all sides.

Transfer the duck to a plate and discard the fat remaining in the casserole.

Pour in 1 cup of the chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat, meanwhile scraping in any brown particles that cling to the bottom and sides of the pan.

Stir in the cloves and chilli, then return the duck and the liquids that have accumulated around it to the casserole.

Cover tightly and braise in the middle of the oven for 1 hour. Remove the duck to a plate, and with a large spoon skim as much fat as possible from the surface of the cooking liquid. Discard the cloves and chilli.

Add the remaining cup of stock to the casserole and, stirring and scraping in the brown bits that cling to the pan, bring to a boil over high heat.

Mix in the orange juice, lime juice, sweet bell pepper and salt. Return the duck to the casserole and baste it with the simmering sauce.

Cover tightly and return the duck to the oven for about 15 minutes. To test for doneness, pierce the thigh of the bird with the point of a small, sharp knife. The juice should trickle out a clear yellow; if it is slightly pink, cook the bird for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Place the duck on a heated platter and pour the sauce over it. Garnish the platter with the orange wedges or slices and serve at once.

Baking involves the exposure of food to dry heat in an oven.

Three types of ovens – general purpose, convection and deck – are used for baking. Deck ovens are wide flat ovens made to accommodate one or two baking sheets side by side.

The heat is controlled by thermostats, often with separate controls for top and bottom heat. The ovens are heavily constructed and well insulated to enable them to build up a store of heat.

Humidity is controlled by a lever that operates a flue in the back of the oven. Baked goods such as bread and choux pastry require a steamy atmosphere, so the vent should be closed.

For meringues, biscuits and to finish off choux pastry goods, where a drying effect is important, the vent should be open. For items such as puff pastry and yeast goods, high starting temperatures are required to make the goods rise before the outside crust is set.

This is often called oven spring. The temperature may then need to be lowered so that the goods can cook through. Items such as baked custards and meringues require constant low temperatures for poaching in a bain-marie or drying as the case may be.

Principles

1. The oven must be heated to the required temperature prior to loading.

2. When laying out small items on a baking sheet, care should be taken to space them regularly. This will ensure a good distribution of heat and even cooking. It is good practice to set out a row along one side and one end, and then fill the sheet using these rows as markers.

3. A sheet of silicon paper may be placed on a baking sheet prior to piping some types of biscuits so that they do not stick and the bottoms don’t colour too much.

4. Large cakes which take a long time to cook should be insulated with several thicknesses of paper on the sides and between the baking sheet and cake tin. This will prevent the outside overcooking before the centre is done.