Rôti de canard au romarin

roast duck 2

Rolled roast of duck with rosemary

This is a very simple way to prepare duck — providing you have a good butcher who can roll the roast for you. If not, you will have to roll it yourself, but it’s such a great dish that it’s worth the effort. The duck may be served hot, with its roasting juices as a sauce, or cold, as shown above, with Dijon mustard or mayonnaise.

2 large duck fillets
1 clove garlic
1 branch rosemary
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

The roast is composed of two duck fillets rolled together and tied with white kitchen string. If you are rolling it yourself, begin by removing the skin with a very sharp knife. Set one fillet on top of the other. Position the skin around the rim of the fillets to cover the rolled roast of duck 1edge where they meet. Tie the fillets together: run the string lengthwise around the skin and knot it, and again lengthwise around the top and bottom of the roast. Then tie concentric circles of string around the fillets as shown in the photo at right.

Place your rolled roast on a board for easy handling. Peel the garlic, slice it in half lengthwise and cut each half into lengthwise strips. Using a sharp knife, make vertical incisions in the top of the roast at regular intervals and insert one garlic strip in each incision. Cut the rosemary branch into three or four pieces and insert them under the string on top of the roast.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 7 (400 F, 210 C).

Use the olive oil to coat both the baking pan and the top of the duck. Place the duck in the baking pan and, when the oven is hot, roast for 30 minutes.

After removing the roast from the oven, allow it to sit for 5 minutes before slicing. Place the slices in a serving dish, removing the string as you go. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 4.

If you are serving your duck hot, pour the juices over the sliced meat. If there’s a lot of fat in the pan, pour that off, add a little water, stir and reheat. For a woodsy flavor, add a tablespoon of crème de cassis. If serving cold, take the duck out of the fridge at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve as is, or with Dijon mustard or homemade mayonnaise.

* Chosen by FrenchEntrée.com to celebrate 100 issues of FrenchEntrée magazine

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

4 Responses to Rôti de canard au romarin

  1. Joan says:

    What temperature should the oven be?

    • Meg says:

      Hello Joan. So sorry! That was an unfortunate omission in this recipe, which I have now updated. The answer is that the oven should be preheated to gas mark 7 (400 F, 210 C). The high temperature will sear the outside of the roast and seal in the juices.

  2. David says:

    Hi,

    I was wondering if you might do or have done a video on how to roll the duck breasts to turn it into a roast. This recipe looks amazing and I’d like to know how to do it properly.

    Thanks,
    David

    • Meg says:

      Hi David. No, I have not done a video on this. Unfortunately the video side of this site is in its infancy, with only two produced so far (mayonnaise and mustard vinaigrette). But the recipe above does explain how to roll the roast. To be honest, I have a poultry merchant here in Paris who does this for me. But if you follow the instructions above, I think you’ll be able to do it at home. Please let me know how this turns out! Cheers, Meg

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.