Caneton a la Normandie

CANETON A LA NORMANDIE

Duckling in Casserole, Normandy Style

As we near another Thanksgiving, why not try a whole new bird?

Once again, in an attempt to branch out and explore recipes outside my comfort zone, I reached for The French Cookbook. I have never cooked duck before, and I’ve only butchered one bird before (see my Chicken Vesuvio). I decided on this recipe because it includes apples, and right now the grocery store is full of delicious autumn fruit!

Since poultry butchery is still a new thing for me, I found this website that gives a great step-by-step photographic instruction on how to break down a duck.

                                                    I decided his name was "Howard"

As to where to get my duck, I wasn’t sure at first. The grocery store is good for “normal” meats, chickens and turkeys and pork and beef, but for weird things like oxtails or rabbit or duck, I wasn’t sure where to go. I might be living near the big city now, but I’m a country girl at heart. Luckily for me, a quick internet search discovered Three Maples Farm. The owner, Andrea, is awesome! I visited her farm to discover that she is just the resource I needed. Andrea cares for all of her animals herself, then brings them to a local butcher. It’s so nice to know exactly where my protein comes from! Even better, Andrea sells everything and uses every part of the animal: her freezers are full of ducks, pigs’ feet and brains, oxtails and chicken feet! I will definitely be back to Three Maples Farm any time I need farm-to-table proteins!

Caneton a la Normandie/Normandy Style Duck

4 lb duck or duckling

2 tbsp butter

¾ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2 lb apples (I used honey crsip because they’re a delicious local favorite!)

3 tbsp butter

½ C brandy

Grease a casserole dish with a tight-fitting lid. Clean and disjoint duck and cut into serving-sized pieces. Rinse and pat dry. Cut away and discard excess fat (or you could save the fat for making any number of delicious things). Don’t forget to score the skin and fat on the pieces of duck so that they brown evenly and the fat has time to render out during cooking.

Heat butter in a large skillet. Sprinkle pieces of duck with salt and pepper. Add pieces of duck to skillet and brown on all sides. Pour off excess fat as it collects.

Wash, quarter, core and slice apples. Melt butter in skillet. Toss apples in butter. Put a thin layer of apples in the bottom of the casserole. Arrange duck pieces over apples, then surround with remaining apple slices.

Discard excess fat from skillet and add brandy. Stir over low heat to loosen particles. Heat until steaming. Pour over duck and apples.

Cover and bake at 350^oF for 2 hours if using a duckling, 3 hours if using duck.

Wow. Just wow. I’d never made duck before. But this was amazing! I mean, as always, there are things that can be done to improve it, but this was so delicious! I am immensely proud of myself for accomplishing this dish! I served it with Duchess Potatoes and Lyonnaise Green Beans for a very fancy French dinner. My husband, the person who doesn’t like cooked fruit, again commented that this was a great way to cook fruit – guess this project is expanding both of our experiences.

Have a question or a request? Put it in the comments below and I’ll be sure to respond. Fröhe essen!