Roast Duck with Apple Chestnut Quinoa Stuffing

This recipe which is close cousin of a Mushroom Quinoa Stuffing that I make. For the holidays, I plan on stuffing this into a duck. I accomodated for approximately 1 cup of homemade stock in the nutritional info. As always, the nutritional data is close but might not be exact.

If you are not planning on stuffing this into the cavity of a bird, you may wish to cook the quinoa in chicken or vegetable stock for enhanced flavor.

STUFFING INGREDIENTS:

3 Shallots, approximately 3 tablespoons chopped
1 teaspoon olive or canola oil
2 oz (approx. ¼ cup) White Wine (I used Rose)
3 ¼ cups chicken stock, vegetable stock or water, (see note at top)
1 ¼ cups quinoa, uncooked
2 sprigs fresh thyme (or ½ tsp. thyme leaves)
2 medium rome or golden delicious apples
½ kamut flakes (also called rolled kamut grain; optional)*
4 ounces chestnuts, steamed and coarsely chopped**
¼ tsp. salt
1/3 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 large egg, beaten slightly
2 egg whites from large eggs, beaten slightly

1 5-6 pound duck

Kamut flakes optional. I forgot to use them during Christmas dinner and it came out great!

**Chesnuts can be purchased steamed and in pouches at well-stocked groceries. I purchased mine from Trader Joe's.


DIRECTIONS:

1 – In a saucepan over med-high heat, sauté shallots in olive oil until translucent and they begin to caramelize.

2 – Add wine to pan, scraping bottom of pan slightly to release any of the caramelized bits.

3 – Add quinoa to pan and either stock or water to equal 3 ¼ cups. Add thyme and bring to boil; cover with lid. Reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 12 minutes or until all of the cooking liquid is absorbed. Allow to cool to warm.

4 – While quinoa cooks, use a cheese grater to shred apple, skin and all, discarding the core.

5 – Place kamut flakes in food processor and grind into a coarse meal. I chose kamut flakes because of their high nutrient value. If you do not have kamut, 1/3 c. finely ground corn meal could be used as a substation.

6 – After quinoa has had some time to cool, discard thyme stems and put grain into a large bowl. Mix shredded apple, chestnuts, kamut meal, salt, pepper and eggs together with quinoa.

7 – To prepare bird, place in roasting pan and allow to sit at room temperature for twenty minutes.

8 – Stuff into cavity of bird or into baking dish that has been wiped lightly with olive oil or a nonstick spray to prevent sticking.

9 – Pierce skin of duck with fork or knife (do not pierce skin) to allow the fat to run away from the meat while the bird cooks. Bake duck in 300 degree oven for three hours, then raise temperature to 425. Cook for about 20 minutes or until skin is golden and crispy.

10 – Allow meat to rest for 15-20 minutes prior to cutting to prevent it from losing too much moisture. Remove stuffing from the cavity to serve.


Stuffing makes twelve 1/3 cup servings. Nutrtitional info for stuffing, below:

**Nutritional data calculated per ingredients use and deemed close but not necessarily exact.**