Roast Duck - Giblet Sauce

Mashed Potatoes Creamed Celery

Cranberry Sauce Cabinet Pudding

Roast Duck

Follow directions for dressing a fowl given in Part III, page 101. Be sure to scrub well both inside and out, using plenty of soda. Then rinse thoroughly with boiling water. Dry, rub the outside with flour and breadcrumbs mixed in equal proportions. Season with salt and pepper, then stuff with chestnut stuffing. Bake 2 1/2 to 3 h, basting from time to time.

Chestnut Stuffing

Shell and blanch 3 c chestnuts. This is accomplished by cutting a gash 1/2 inch long in the flat side of the chestnut, putting in an omelet pan with 1/2 t butter for each c of nuts, and heating thoroughly for several minutes, stirring frequently. Then stand in the oven for 5 m. In this way the shell can be easily removed and the inner skin will come off too, thus blanching them at the same time.

Cook the chestnuts in boiling salted water until soft, then drain and mash. Add 1/4 c butter, 1 t salt, 1/8 t pepper, and 1/4 c cream. Melt 1/4 c butter, add 1 c cracker crumbs, mix well, then add to the chestnut mixture and mix thoroughly, and stuff the duck.

Giblet Sauce

Remove the thin membrane, clotted blood, veins and arteries, from the heart. Separate the gall bladder from the liver, cutting off any of the liver that may have a greenish tinge. Cut the fat and membranes from the gizzard. Make a gash through the thickest part of the gizzard, and cut as far as the inner lining, being careful not to pierce it. Remove the inner sack and discard. Wash the giblets well, Cover with cold water, heat quickly and cook until tender, about 3/4 h.

Pour off the liquid in the pan in which the duck has been roasted. From it skim off 4 T fat, return to the pan and brown with 4 T flour; add 2 c stock in which the giblets (heart, liver, and gizzard) have been cooked, cook 5 m and season with salt and pepper. Add the giblets dropped fine, cook a minute or two longer, then serve.

Creamed Celery

Cut enough cleaned celery stalks into pieces about 1 inch long to fill 2 c, cover with boiling water and cook until tender, about 3/4 h. Drain, cover with 1 c Medium White Sauce (2 T flour) and serve.

Cranberry Sauce

Look over the cranberries, rejecting all soft or spotted ones. By measure use half as much sugar as cranberries and half as much water as sugar. Cover and cook 10 m, and set aside to cool. Long cooking makes a bitter sauce.

Another method is to cook the cranberries in the water for about 5 m or until they burst, then add the sugar and boil gently for about 10 m, with the cover on. The sauce should set into a jelly when cold and the skins should not be tough.

Cabinet Pudding

Sprinkle the bottom of a 2 pt. square mould with chopped fruit (raisins, currants, and citron), then add slices of stale sponge cake and if desired a sprinkling of ground cinnamon and clove. Alternate these layers using 1/2 c of fruit.

Beat 2 eggs lightly, add 1/2 t salt, 1 T melted butter, and 1 pt. of milk; pour over the ingredients in the mould, and let stand 1 h, then steam 1 1/2 h. Serve either plain, or with custard sauce or with currant jelly.

Preparing The Meal

About 3 h before dinner prepare the duck and place in the oven. Then make the Cabinet Pudding and set aside for an h before steaming. Cook the Giblets and then make the Cranberry Sauce. Also cook the Celery for Creamed Celery.

About 1 1/2 h before dinner steam the pudding, then a little later wash and pare the potatoes and cook them in the water over which the pudding is steaming. Make 1 c Medium White Sauce (2 T flour, 2 T butter), and add the cooked Celery to it. Mash the potataes, keeping them warm until needed, remove the duck to a hot platter, and make the Giblet Sauce in the pan in which the duck was cooked. Serve the dinner.

The Pudding can continue steaming while the dinner is being eaten. Place a teaspoonful of currant jelly on top of each serving of Pudding.