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Make Ahead Provencal Duck Stew

François de Mélogue · Main Course · Poultry · Provencal Recipes · Taste

Try this recipe for Provencal Duck Stew before the weather gets too warm. This dish is a great main course for long summer lunches or dinner parties because it is best prepared ahead of time and reheated. Make this recipe in advance and it will allow you to enjoy the meal as much as your friends.

Provencal Duck Stew

Provencal Duck Stew

Allow enough time to make this recipe in advance. The duck pieces should marinate for 10-12 hours before you start cooking. The dish is served hot but tastes better after the flavors have had a chance to "get to know" each other.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 13 hours 30 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine French, Provencal
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 4-5 lb (2-2.2 kg) duck
  • 1 carrot thinly sliced
  • 1 medium onion thinly sliced
  • 1 stalk celery thinly sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves mashed
  • 10 black peppercorns
  • 10 Juniper Berries
  • 1 piece star anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 orange for peel and juice
  • 1 bottle Pinot Noir
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 1 quart (950ml) chicken stock

Instructions
 

  • Cut your duck into eight pieces, like you would breakdown a whole chicken, and put in a large bowl with room for more ingredients.
  • Add the carrot, onion, celery, garlic, black peppercorns, juniper berries, star anise, cinnamon orange and pinot noir. Let marinate for 10 to 12 hours sitting out in your kitchen.
  • Strain the marinade, separating the vegetables and liquid.
  • Melt the butter in a large sauté pan and brown the duck on both sides.
  • When browned, remove the duck and sauté the vegetables leftover from the marinade.
  • Sprinkle flour over the vegetables, mixing well.
  • Strain marinade into vegetables and add the browned duck pieces back to your pan.
  • Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for one hour.
  • As you cook your duck you may need to add chicken stock to keep it moist and stew-like. I ended up using about one quart (roughly 950ml).
  • At the end of the cooking time, remove the duck pieces and strain out and discard the vegetables.
  • Once the dish is finished allow it to cool completely, cover and put in the fridge.
  • To Reheat: Return the duck meat to the pan then simmer for slowly (10-15 minutes). Adjust seasonings and serve.

Notes

I used an Alina duck from LaBelle Farms in New York. They are a special French breed renowned for their ultra rich, almost squab like flavor, that are raised in arena style hoops and fed only corn grown on the same farm.
Keyword Duck
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Other Recipes with Duck:

Seared Duck Breast with Clementine-Pomegranate Beurre Blanc

French Duck with Spicy Noodles

Duck Confit Hash and Eggs

Duck with Fig-Shallot Compote

Duck Confit

Duck, Roasted Pear and Spinach Salad

Duck Breasts with Figs

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Chef François de Mélogue

François de Mélogue grew up in a very French household in Chicago. His earliest attempts at cookery began with the filleting of his sister’s goldfish at age two and a braised rabbit dish made with his pet rabbits by age seven. He eventually stopped cooking his pets and went to the highly esteemed New England Culinary Institute, where he graduated top of his class in 1985.

Chef François has over 30 years of cross-cultural culinary experience and brings an impressive culinary history and a unique Mediterranean cooking style. After graduating top of his class from the notable New England Culinary Institute, Chef François began his career in a number of highly acclaimed kitchens across the country, including Chef Louis Szathmary’s restaurant The Bakery in Chicago, Old Drovers Inn, a Relais and Chateaux property in New York and Joel Robuchon Gastronomie restaurant in Paris, before opening award-winning restaurant Pili Pili in his hometown of Chicago, rated in the Top Ten new restaurants in the World by Food and Wine magazine in 2003.

Chef François resides in St Albans, Vermont with his wife Lisa and ten-year-old son Beaumont, who has proclaimed himself the family saucier. Chef François' latest publication French Cooking for Beginners: 75+ Classic Recipes to Cook Like a Parisian takes you on a culinary journey well beyond the streets of Paris. Francois is a professional photographer specializing in food/product photography, real estate photography and shooting rural landscapes of Vermont and France. Explore his work on https://www.francoisdemelogue.com/.

Take a look at his website Simple French Cooking filled with delicious recipes and beautiful photos. Also follow Francois on Medium for more tempting dishes Pistou and Pastis.

2 Comments

  1. Bogumila Wasacz
    October 17, 2019 at 6:45 pm — Reply

    I am just making the duck stew but the recipe is not mentioning the salt. Is enough salt in chicken stock for the recipe! Thank you!

    • CKAdmin
      October 18, 2019 at 6:53 am — Reply

      Hello, I checked with Chef Francois and he confirmed that in most of his recipes, including this one, salt & pepper should be added to suit your taste. If your chicken stock has salt that might be plenty for the dish. Thank you for reading perfectly Provence. Are you signed up for our newsletter? Once you signup we send a copy of the latest fall menu. Enjoy!

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