Duck Stuffed with Salted Milk-Cap Mushrooms
Gruzdi are milk-cap mushrooms cured in salt brine — firm, faintly peppery, sold in jars at any Eastern European deli and eaten the way the French eat cornichons. Here 150 g (about 5 oz) of them go inside the duck rather than beside it. As the bird braises, the mushrooms leak their tangy brine into the meat while rendering duck fat soaks into them; that two-way trade is the entire point of the dish.
Squeeze the mushrooms before stuffing. They carry a lot of salt with them, which is why the duck needs almost no seasoning of its own and the caper sauce is kept deliberately restrained — just vinegar, sugar, dill and chopped cucumber.
- Braise covered, with only half a cup of water in the roaster, so the duck cooks in its own steam instead of drying in dry heat.
- Uncover for the last 20-25 minutes; that window is what renders the remaining fat and crisps the skin.
- No milk caps? Rinse and drain a jar of marinated forest mushrooms, or use salted saffron milk caps — both are milder, so the finished dish will taste gentler.
Part of Eastern European cuisine — 65 more recipes in the section.
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Ingredients
Instructions
Wash the duck thoroughly, stuff it with the salted milk caps, and sew the opening shut with thread. Place it in a roaster or another lidded dish, pour in half a cup of water, and set it in the oven to braise.
While the duck cooks, make the sauce: in a small saucepan, combine finely chopped cucumbers, capers, dill, vinegar, a strong broth (bouillon from a cube works), and sugar. Stir well and warm through over low heat.
About 20 to 25 minutes before the duck is done, uncover it so the top can brown.
Cut the finished duck into serving pieces and arrange on a platter alongside the mushrooms. Spoon the sauce over the top, or serve it separately in a gravy boat.
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