Duck with Roasted Apple and Bread Dumplings

Ingredients

• 1 duck (pre‑cooked, about 2.5 kg)
• 2 onions
• 2 Apples
• 1 tsp dried marjoram
• 1 tsp dried sweet basil
• Salt
• ground pepper
• 0.5 l broth (vegetable or poultry)
• 5 stale rolls
• 200 ml milk
• 2 Eggs
• 40 g Butter
• Salt
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 10 g butter (for the towel)
• 4 small apples
• 2 tbsp butter
• a pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp powdered sugar

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 180°C with lower and upper heat.

2. 2.

   Rinse the duck inside and out under running water and pat dry. Trim off the wing tips and neck, then cut both into large pieces. Peel and roughly dice the onions. Wash, quarter, core and roughly dice the apples. Mix both in a bowl with marjoram and sweet basil.

3. 3.

   Season the duck inside and out with salt and pepper and fill it with the apple‑onion mixture. Seal the opening with kitchen twine or secure with a skewer, then place on a roasting tray breast side down. Pour about 500 ml water into the tray and roast in the preheated oven for about 2 hours, basting occasionally with the released fat and turning the duck after one hour.

4. 4.

   For the towel dumplings grate the crusts of the rolls and cut the rolls first into slices then into cubes. Place them in a bowl and pour hot milk over them. Separate the eggs. Cream together butter, yolks and salt. Add parsley and mix with the soaked roll cubes. Combine everything and let it rest for 10 minutes. Boil water in a large pot, add 2 tbsp salt, whisk egg whites until stiff and fold into the roll mixture. Brush the towel with melted butter. Shape the roll mixture into a 6‑7 cm thick log, place it on the middle of the towel and loosely press the towel over the dumpling log from both sides (the dough expands while cooking). Tie the ends together with twine. Attach the towel with the dumpling dough to the handle of a ladle using twine (towel opening facing up) and hang it in the boiling water. Let the towel dumplings cook for about 40 minutes in simmering water.

5. 5.

   Remove the finished duck from the pot and strain the roasting liquid (if not yet evaporated). Skim off the fat with a small ladle and set aside.

6. 6.

   On the stove, brown the wings and neck in the pan (add 1‑2 tbsp duck fat if needed).

7. 7.

   Meanwhile, remove the stuffing from the duck and add it to the browned wings and neck. Let simmer for about 5 minutes, deglaze with broth (and roasting liquid) and cook for about 20 minutes.

8. 8.

   Set the oven to grill mode.

9. 9.

   Separate the legs and detach the breast meat from the wing bones (or quarter the duck with poultry scissors). Place skin side up on a baking sheet and brown under the grill for a few minutes until crisp.

10. 10.

    Strain the sauce, season with salt and pepper, and stir in 1‑2 tbsp duck fat if desired.

11. 11.

    Let the finished towel dumpling rest for 5 minutes before cutting. Unwrap the dumpling from the towel and slice into 1 cm thick rounds.

12. 12.

    Wash the apples, core them and cut crosswise into about 1 cm thick slices. Melt butter in a pan, briefly fry the apple slices, turning once. Dust with powdered sugar and cinnamon and allow to caramelize lightly.

13. 13.

    Arrange duck pieces with dumpling rounds and apple slices on preheated plates and serve. Offer the sauce separately.