Happy December!
Today is the day – December 1st. And you know what that means…Christmas! It is now officially the season of Christmas, and in Scandinavia, we take this very seriously. Christmas isn’t just a day or two at the end of the month; no, it is at least a whole entire month of festivities and good food! There is just something special about holiday food, and it’s probably because we only get to eat it once a year that we love it so much. In our house, we go absolutely crazy every time we are all together for the holidays. This means that we don’t skimp on any Christmas treats, and we make cookies, candy, baked goods, desserts, and, of course, Christmas dinner.
Danish Christmas Dinner
If you ask anyone in our house, Danish Christmas dinner is the best thing ever. Instead of dry turkey, we have delicious pork roast with crackling on top. Instead of mashed potatoes, we have caramelized mini potatoes that are such a perfect combination of sweet and savory. Instead of pie for dessert, we have an incredibly creamy rice and almond pudding with warm cherry sauce on top. We love every single one of these dishes because they are super yummy. And, they remind us of our favorite time of year.
Today’s Recipe
Although we can’t speak for our other family members, our favorite Christmas dish is today’s recipe. This roast duck with prunes and apples just turns out so juicy and flavorful. And, the prunes and apples add a wonderful sweetness and freshness to the fatty duck. Many Danes cook a big pork roast for Christmas dinner, but in our family, we have both pork and duck. The best of both worlds!
Making Roast Duck
To get a super tender and tasty duck, we like to slow roast it on a lower temperature for about three hours. For reference, we use a six pound duck to serve six people, so you can adjust the recipe as you see necessary. If you do have a smaller or larger duck, you should also adjust the cooking time. The easiest way to do so is to have a meat thermometer nearby and start checking it after a couple of hours! Make sure to pat your duck dry and season well with salt and pepper, as well as other herbs like rosemary and bay leaves. Stuff with prunes and apples and slow roast in a roasting tray. This turns out so yummy, even if you don’t want to wait for Christmas! Try it out and leave us a comment if you do 🙂
Check out our video for a more visual demo (just make sure to roast your duck the right side up 😂):
Andesteg (Roast Duck with Apples and Prunes)
Ingredients
- 1 Whole duck, ~6lbs (if you have a smaller duck, just make sure to adjust the total roasting time!)
- 15 whole dried prunes
- 3 small apples (or 2 large)
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 3-4 Fresh rosemary sprigs (optional)
- 3-4 Fresh (or dried) bay leaves (optional)
- 2 cups water (for the bottom of the roasting pan)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven on convection roast to 325F (160C).
- Prepare your duck by removing it from the packaging and removing any interior bags as well as the duck neck (you may have to cut the neck off if it is still attached). Save these for making duck gravy!
- Pat the duck dry. Chop apples into slices.
- Stuff the duck with the prunes and apples, as well as the rosemary sprigs and the bay leaves (this is optional but adds a nice aroma!)
- Season the exterior of the duck well with salt and pepper. We keep it very simple, but feel free to add other seasonings if you like!
- Place the duck in a roasting pan (preferably with a grate so that it is elevated off the bottom) and add about 2 cups of water to the bottom to catch any drippings. Make sure that you are roasting the duck with the duck breasts up (speaking from experience here lol) so that the skin on it gets nice and crispy!
- Roast for around 2 hours (make sure to adjust the total roasting temperature if you have a smaller duck! The cooking time is approximately 20-25 minutes per pound)- we check it every so often to make sure the water at the bottom hasn't evaporated (be sure to replace any water to prevent the drippings from burning to the bottom of the pan), and you can also baste the duck if you want! Begin checking the internal temperature. Since this is a whole duck, we are aiming for reaching an internal temp of 165F (~74C).
- Once your duck has finished roasting, let it rest for about 20 minutes. Remove the interior stuffing of apples and prunes; if you are serving this immediately, you can carve into pieces and serve (the apples and prunes are a must eat as well!)
- If you are preparing this ahead of time for Christmas dinner (which is how we do it, since we need the oven for other food!), you can place the prunes and apples in a dish, then remove as much meat as possible from the duck and place over the apples and prunes. Let it cool and then store in the fridge until ready to reheat and serve!
