A Duck Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Prepare a puff pastry crust.
Scald and clean the ducks, removing feet, pinions, neck, and head.
Remove the gizzards, livers, hearts, and all fat from inside the ducks.
Season the ducks inside and out with salt and pepper.
Assemble and bake
Place the ducks in a dish with giblets at each end, and add enough water to almost fill the pie.
Cover with the crust and bake at 350°F (175°C) until done, but do not overbake.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Ducks
- Provide the main meat, which becomes tender and juicy as it cooks slowly in the pie.
- Puff pastry crust
- Forms a golden, flaky cover that seals in steam and moisture while the birds cook.
- Water
- Fills the dish around the ducks to create steam and keep the meat moist during baking.
The step that matters
Covering with crust and baking until done, not overbaked. Overbaking dries out duck meat, which has little fat under the skin to protect it. Stopping when the meat is just done keeps it tender and juicy, while the pastry still bakes through.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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