Cookbook:Stuffed Duck Breast with Cabbage and Dumplings

| Austrian Cuisine

Almost every Austrian family has its own Christmas tradition. Christmas Eve differs from family to family; however, many cannot imagine Christmas without the delicious aroma of a succulent roast duck floating in the air. In general, Austrians are always really fond of eating duck.

Roasting a duck is a rather time-consuming activity that can turn the most silent time of the year into a quite stressful one for the cook as expectations in a culinary delicacy are always very high. Given that Christmas should be a happy feast for everybody—also for those preparing the meal—it is always helpful to invite family members or guests to come to the kitchen and help you prepare dinner. It is also recommended to start early enough and to consider that dishes prepared in advance will reduce stress later.

This recipe serves a roast duck along with bread dumplings, also known as serviettenknödeln, and a green cabbage salad.

Cabbage salad

 * 1 head of green cabbage, shredded
 * 1 small onion, finely minced
 * ½ cup white granulated sugar
 * 1½ cups white wine vinegar
 * 1 tsp salt

Duck

 * 1 ea. (about 2.5 kg) whole fresh duck, at room temperature
 * Salt
 * Pepper
 * 50 g butter
 * 1 tbsp marjoram or other herbs
 * 4–5 apples, peeled

Bread dumplings

 * 4 stale white bread rolls, cut into small cubes
 * 2 eggs
 * ½ cup milk
 * 5 g melted butter
 * Salt
 * Ground nutmeg
 * Parsley

Cabbage salad

 * 1) Put the shredded cabbage and the minced onion into a large bowl.
 * 2) Combine vinegar, salt, and sugar in a separate bowl and pour the mixture over the cabbage.
 * 3) Cover the salad, and refrigerate it for several hours before serving.



Duck

 * 1) Preheat the oven to 200°C. If not already done, disembowel the duck, remove the clumps of fat from the tail, and rinse the whole bird carefully.
 * 2) Grease the bird with butter all over, and season it generously inside and out with salt, pepper, and marjoram.
 * 3) Stuff the duck with the peeled apples and make sure to close it appropriately. This will give a wonderful taste to the finished dish.
 * 4) Put the duck breast-side up into a roasting pan that is deep enough to hold the rendered fat, and roast it at 200°C for around 15 minutes.
 * 5) Take out the duck, baste it, turn it breast-side down, and roast for another 15 minutes. Continue to do so every 15 minutes. It takes roughly an hour to roast 1 kg; thus, you may prepare yourself to leave the duck in the oven for about 2½ hours.
 * 6) About 20 minutes before the end of the roasting process, put some more butter on the duck in order to obtain a crispy skin. The duck is ready to be served when its skin is richly browned and crisp.
 * 7) Turn off the oven and let the duck rest for another 10 minutes.



Bread dumplings



 * 1) Put the bread cubes into a large bowl and pour milk over them; use more or less milk depending on how dry the bread is.
 * 2) Melt the butter in a pan, and mix it with the eggs and the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Add to the bread mixture.
 * 3) Use your hands to squeeze the bread mixture through your fingers until it is smooth and sticky. If the dough is too loose, add 1–2 tablespoons of flour to firm it up.
 * 4) Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and form small portions of the dough into balls.
 * 5) Drop the dumplings carefully into the water and let them simmer for about 30 minutes until they are light, firm, and well risen. Remove them with a large spoon. Alternatively, form the dough into a roll, wrap it into a wet dishtowel, and firmly tie up both ends. Then, put it into the pot and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.

Serving

 * 1) Remove the apples from the duck, then carve it as desired. Put the dark brown gravy into an extra cup for serving.
 * 2) If you have cooked the dumpling mixture using the towel method, remove the large dumpling from the dishtowel, cut it into generous slices, and arrange them nicely on a plate. Otherwise, transfer the drained cooked dumplings to a dish.
 * 3) Serve the duck and dumplings hot, accompanied by the cabbage salad and a fruity red wine.