Braised Duck

Draw and clean a large duck, stuff the breast with bread or meat stuffing, and truss it. Put into a stewpan some slices of fat bacon or a little butter; when melted place the duck over it on its breast first, to give it a little color, then turn it over. When the back is slightly colored, surround the duck with whole vegetables, such as carrots, potatoes, etc.; add salt, pepper and seasoning, and a breakfast cupful of broth; simmer over the fire until the liquid has reduced to glaze, then add broth and white wine to reach to half the height of the duck, cover with thin slices of fat bacon, and braise it. When done, take out the duck and vegetables, and reduce the liquor to half-glaze. Untruss the duck and dish it; strain and skim the stock and thicken with a little brown sauce. Garnish the duck with vegetables, pour a little of the sauce over it, and serve the rest in a sauceboat.

Braised Duck, Empress Style

Prepare a duck by cutting off the wing and half of the breast; take off the skin, remove the bone from the wing and fill up its place with quenelle forcemeat. Lard the breast and put it into a braisingpan over slices of leeks, carrots, onions, a little parsley, thyme, chervil, bay leaves, and lemon peel. Pour over sufficient stock to prevent burning, set the pan on the fire and braise the half duck; then glaze it, put on a dish over a layer of cooked sea-kale, and serve with puree of beans for garnish.

Braised Duck With Mushrooms

Braise a duck. Melt two ounces of butter in a stewpan; add a few chives, several finely-minced mushrooms and a bunch of parsley, and fry them for ten minutes; dredge in a little flour; add the liquor from the duck after braising, and stir over the fire for a few minutes; skim off the fat and strain. Place the duck on a dish, pour over the gravy, and serve.

Deviled Duck

Clean a good-sized duck and split down the back. Prepare a mixture of dry mustard, pepper, salt and chutney; rub it all over the duck, having previously pricked the skin with a fork, and boil it for twenty minutes. Put half a teacupful each of white wine, mushroom catsup, lemon-pickle and stock into a saucepan, and add a little sugar. Dish the duck, pour the sauce over it, and serve hot.

Stewed Duck's Giblets

Wash the giblets, cut up the gizzards; disjoint the head, neck and pinions, and put them over the fire in a stewpan; add a small onion, a couple of cloves, one dozen peppercorns, a small bunch of savory herbs, a teaspoonful of catsup, two ounces of butter and half a pint of broth. Let them stew gently until the giblets are tender, then lay them on a hot dish Strain the gravy, put it back into the stewpan, thicken with a little butter rolled in corn meal, and stir in one wineglassful of white wine. Pour the gravy over the giblets, and serve hot.

Ducks, Hunter's Style

Take three ducks, singe, draw, truss and cook in a stewpan with a piece of butter over a moderate fire. Fry the livers of the ducks with other poultry livers of slices of calf's liver; when they are cool pound them and pass through a sieve, mix in a little glaze and with it mask a few bread-crusts cut into oblong shapes and browned in butter. Arrange in the center of a dish a heap of green peas or any other vegetable; cut the ducks into pieces of fillets, trim them, arrange them with the crusts around the pyramid and place a decorated skewer in the center of the heap Mask the fillets of duck with brown sauce reduced with Madeira, and serve. Serve the remainder of the sauce in a sauceboat.

Duck Pie

Skin and boil for a quarter of an hour a duck, having first cut off the neck. Put the well-washed giblets over the fire with an anchovy, a little whole black pepper, a small bunch of sweet herbs, an onion, a bit of mace, a crust of bread toasted very brown, a very little cayenne and an ounce of butter. Cover the pan until the butter is quite melted and all is quite hot, then add half a pint of boiling water and stew until tender. Take up the giblets, strain the liquor and let it and the giblets stand until quite cold. When the duck is roasted remove and cut in pieces while yet hot. When the giblets are cold put them into a pie-dish, pour over the skimmed liquor they were boiled in with the gravy that has run from the duck, season the duck with salt and pepper, put into a pie-dish with a few pieces of butter, cover with puff-paste or short-crust, and bake.