Pato Relleno Al Maracuya Con Mango

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For decades I’ve prepared roast turkey for the Thanksgiving dinner in my home but last year my daughters mentioned that turkey has never been a favorite. Wow, what a revelation that was. Humm, what’s a father to do? Ok, affordability and super-market availability for fowl limits me to the alternative of chicken, Cornish game hens, goose and duck. Tried goose once but it didn’t stop pouring out goose fat. Thought my stove was going to go up in flames.

This recipe is quite elegant and requires you to debone a duck. Though time consuming it’s worth the extra effort for a very special meal like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years. It’s a Mexican version of duck galantine.

I adapted this recipe for pheasant from my cousin Joe Macias and daughter Yolanda from their collection of Mexican recipes. They compiled these recipes into a book titled “Las Recetas que me Robé”. I’ll leave the translation to you. They reside in Puerto Morales, Quintana Roo. Let’s get started.

Ingredients

Roast

1 duck approximately 5 lbs

2 carrots cut in pieces

1 stalk celery cut in pieces

½ onion cut in pieces

3-4 sprigs of thyme

Cilantro finely minced

Cooking string

Filling for stuffing

¾ lb ground duck breast, chicken or turkey. (I used chicken)

1 egg white

⅓ cup cream

½ cup chopped shallots

1.5 oz pistachios

1 teaspoon dry ground thyme or rosemary

Pinch of chile piquin or cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

Mango/Passion Glaze

7-8 oz mango puree (canned slices ok)

7-8 oz passion fruit puree (found in Mexican mrkts. If not substitute mango)

pinch of chile pequin or cayenne pepper

Sweet potato puree entrée accompaniment

1 lb sweet potato

1 tablespoon lime juice

½ & ½ milk for thinning

Salt and pepper

Preparation

Filling for stuffing

In a bowl, slowly add the following to ground meat; egg white, cream, dried ground herb, pistachios, chile, salt, and pepper until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes.

Mango/Passion Glaze

I have seen mango and passion fruit in the frozen vegetables in Mexican supermarkets. If you are using slices, puree the fruit in a blender with a pinch of chile powder.

Sweet potato puree entrée accompaniment

Fill the bottom of a steamer with about 2-3 inches of water. Peel a sweet potato and slice into 1-inch thick pieces. When the steamer is ready, add pieces, cover and steam for 10-15 minutes, or until the potato slices are tender. Puree with a hand blender or food processor. Mix in the lime juice, thin out with ½ & ½, salt and pepper to taste.

Duck

I refer you to these two web links for instructions on deboning a duck (galantine).

Lay the deboned duck flat and place the stuffing in the center. Sew up the two long side together to form a stuffed duck as shown in the photos. Place the carrot, onion, celery and thyme sprigs in a roasting pan along with a few duck bones that were removed during the deboning and lay the duck over the vegetables.

Preheat the oven at 350°F degrees

Roast for 1 ½ to 2 hour. After the first hour brush on thick layers of glaze in intervals of 10 minutes. Cook to the internal temperature of 165° F. Cool for 15 minutes before slicing.

Optional preparation – make a gravy.

Using the surplus duck bones, make a stock with vegetables and herbs. Use your favorite gravy recipe with the stock and pan juices.

Plating

Serve several slices and drizzle mango puree or gravy. On one side of the serving plate, place two tablespoons of sweet potato and using the back of a tablespoon spread out the sweet potato puree in a quarter-moon shape. Garnish the duck with finely minced cilantro.