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By Root 638 0

by soaking the meat in a bright, clean-tasting ginger brine. The essential oil in ginger, zingiberene, has a mild floral sweetness, which is absorbed deeply into the meat because of the alcohol in the sake. The ginger counteracts any bitter notes that might develop as the duck roasts. In addition, the brine adds moisture to the lean breast, ensuring that it does not overcook before the legs are done roasting.

INGREDIENTS:

1 ½ cups Ginger Sake Brine

1 Muscovy duck (about 4 pounds), washed and patted dry and visible fat removed

½ cup Sweet Ginger Glaze

2 scallions (green and white parts), finely chopped

3 tablespoons finely chopped pickled (sushi) ginger

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the brine and duck in a jumbo (2-gallon) zipper-lock bag. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Massage the brine into the duck and refrigerate for about 12 hours.

Light a grill for indirect medium heat, 325°F.

Put the duck, breast-side up, on a rack set in a disposable roasting pan. Put the pan on the grill away from the heat, cover the grill, and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the inside of a thigh registers 165°F, about 1 hour, basting with the glaze halfway through. Remove the duck to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes. Carve it as you would a chicken.

Serve scattered with the scallions and ginger.

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KEEP IT SIMPLE:

Replace the ginger glaze with equal parts of honey and prepared ginger teriyaki sauce (or teriyaki sauce with freshly grated ginger added).

* * *

DUCK BREASTS

Duck Breast Roulade

MAKES 3 TO 4 SERVINGS

Once the bones are removed from a whole duck breast, it spreads out nicely into a nearly flat, uniform rectangle. Cover the exposed meat with a colorful and flavorful stuffing, and you can roll it up into a log that reveals a striking spiral of filling in every slice. In this recipe the duck meat is sweetened with an apple brine, and rolled with a savory mixture of Italian sausage, spinach, feta cheese, and walnuts. When rolling up the roulade, try to avoid getting a lot of skin tucked inside the spiral because that skin will remain flabby after cooking.

INGREDIENTS:

1 whole Muscovy or Moulard duck breast (about 1 ¾ pounds), washed and patted dry and all bones removed (see Know-How, below)

2 cups Apple-Sage Brine or Apple-Thyme Brine

1 microwaveable bag (6 ounces) baby spinach

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 ounces mild Italian sausage, casing removed

1 small onion, chopped

3 tablespoons chopped walnuts

1 garlic clove, minced

2 ounces crumbled feta cheese

2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill

Coarse salt and ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Remove any visible fat from around the breast meat and discard. Combine the brine and duck breast in a 1-gallon zipper-lock bag. Press out the air and seal the bag. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Puncture the bag of spinach with a small knife. Cook the spinach in the microwave oven at full power until wilted, about 3 minutes.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and onion and cook until the sausage is cooked through and the onion is tender, chopping the sausage into small pieces with the edge of a spatula as it cooks. Add the walnuts and sauté until toasted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and remove from the heat. Stir in the feta and dill. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

Light a grill for indirect medium-high heat, about 375°F.

Remove the duck from the brine and pat dry. Discard the brine. Spread the duck breast out on a clean work surface, skin-side down. Trim off the excess skin from the narrow end (the neck end) of the meat, exposing about 1 inch of meat on the underside of the duck at the narrow end. Spread the spinach mixture over the duck meat. Roll up the breast and filling into a tight roll, starting with the narrow end. The skin should all be on the outside and completely surround the meat. Secure with several pieces of kitchen twine. It will look like a duck sausage.

Place on a roasting rack set in a disposable roasting pan and