Roast Duck and Dumplings

Since this is my 30th recipe posted (I can't believe I got this far either)I decided to make something really special, duck and dumplings. This is a dish that we have on thanksgiving. This year we won't sadly, it'll have to wait till that Friday. I really wanted to practice this dish before thanksgiving and it's finally colder outside so this is just the perfect time to make it.

You'll notice in the pic of my plate that it's a bit messy. I had been waiting to take a bite of that plate for like a week and I couldn't be bothered with wasting another second on a picture, hey at least I took one haha.

I invited my friends over to eat the ducks with me because if there aren't other people there to eat it, I'll eat the whole thing myself. Not good. One of my favorite quotes of the night comes from my friend Axel (sick name right?) "You know the Master Cheif in Halo? your like the Master Chef" haha thanks man. I really like that. It relates 2 of my favorite things, halo and cooking. This meal is a great excuse to get a bunch of people together. I love when two diff groups of friends meet and it works out and they like each other.

The duck takes a while, so be prepared for that. Total it takes about 2- 2 1/2 hours to roast. But you will be rewarded with your house smelling amazing. Of course this could have a negative effect by making you hungry. But that's one of the good things about being the cook. You get to eat as you go cuz you need to "taste" haha.

Ingredients:
3.5 lbs duck (I usually serve a quarter duck per person so figure out how much you need. And I suggest rounding up because it's really good and it's just as easy to make one as a few)
Caraway Seeds
Onion
Salt

Dumplings: (makes about 40 dumplings)
3 eggs
1 cup milk
3 cups flour
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t baking powder
4 1/2 slices of bread, cubed

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Clean duck by removing innards and any excess skin or fat. Cover inside and out with lots of salt and caraway seeds.

3. Place onion, roughly chopped, into the duck cavity.

4. Place duck in a large roasting pan on a rack breast side up. (if you don't have a rack do what I did. Get a bag of onions and slice them into 1 1/2 inch rounds. Spread around the bottom of the pan so they form a base so duck doesn't sit directly in water. if you leave onion skins on you will get a dark gravy)

5. Pour 1 inch of water into the bottom of the pan. Cover pan with aluminum foil and place in oven for about 1 hr 15 min to 1 hr 30 min.

6. Heat oven to 425 and uncover pan. Cook duck another hour or until skin is crispy and golden brown. (if using a thermometer, when duck hits about 212 degrees)

7. While duck skin is crisping make the dumplings.

Dumplings:

8. Beat eggs with a fork in a bowl. Add milk.

9. Sift flour, salt and baking powder into the bowl. Normally I wouldn't bother sifting but this makes the final dumplings lighter. Mix together

10. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

11. Now it's time to "knead" Start from one edge of the bowl with a wooden spoon. Put spoon into dough a inch from side of pan. Bring toward you, move over horizontally a spoon length and do the same thing. Repeat this over and over, using the spoon to add air to the dough, until you reach the other side of the pan. Turn pan and continue. You can't really over work this dough so do more then you think you need to. Bubbles should form within the dough. This will take some time but your patience will be rewarded.

12. Add bread cubes and fold until dough is combined.

13. cut dough into thirds on a floured cutting board. Use extra flour to roll sticky cut edges in. Make cuts as even as possible.

14. Place into boiling water. Cook 10 minutes then rotate dough 180 degrees and cook for another 10 minutes.

15. Cut dumplings into 1/2 inch slices. Place in a serving bowl and cover with a dish towel to keep warm.

16. Once the Duck skin is crispy, pull it out of the oven and let it rest, covered for a minimum of 20 minutes. You can roast the ducks ahead of time. Do everything the exact same except hold off on making the dumplings until serving time. Then heat up the duck in a 275 oven for about 10 minutes or until warm.

To make gravy/juices. Pour liquid from roasting pan into a gravy separator. The brown juices are the duck while the fat will sit on top. Skim some of the fat off and serve juices. Pour these over the dumplings and duck and it adds a ton of flavor!

I wanted to make some extra gravy for my leftovers. Here's what I did. Add more water to roasting pan that still has onion inside. Throw in the duck spines that have been cut from quarters into pan. Allow everything to mingle over low heat until liquid inside pan has color. Then strain liquid and allow it to separate before refrigerating.

It may take a little patience and practice but I hope everyone enjoys this recipe as much as I do!