Roast Duck with Wine-Braised Cabbage

Duck is a very rich meat, and when combined with a bite of sweet prunes and some tart wine-braised cabbage, this dish makes the perfect forkful! Be sure to save some of the fat that cooks off of the duck - it’s great for frying up eggs or potatoes.

Preparations for wine-braised cabbage

Carved duck stuffed with prunes and apples

Plated recipe, complete with wine-braised cabbage and prune-wine reduction sauce. Serves 4.

Directions (adapted from Bon Appétit’s recipe):
½ orange, peeled and sliced
¼ cup (½ stick) butter
6 cups thinly sliced red cabbage (from half of large head)
3 cups blackberry-cranberry juice (**note**: do not substitute cranberry juice cocktail!)
1 ¾ cups dry red wine
½ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 5 ¼-pound duck
26 large prunes, pitted
1 Granny Smith apple, halved, cored, sliced

1. Slice rind off the orange, and cut into slices. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat, and add cabbage; sauté 2 minutes. Add 2 cups juice, 1 cup wine, vinegar, sugar, orange and cinnamon. Simmer until cabbage is tender and almost all liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Discard cinnamon stick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Preheat oven to 475° F. Place duck on rack in roasting pan. Place 10 prunes and apple in duck cavity. Sprinkle duck with salt and pepper, and score the skin in the duck’s fattiest areas with a sharp knife - be careful not to cut through the skin to the meat, though. Roast duck 30 minutes.
3. Prick duck skin with a fork in the fatty areas over the breasts and thighs (again, do not pierce the meat), and reduce oven temperature to 350° F. Continue roasting until meat thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 160° F, about 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, combine remaining 1 cup juice and 16 prunes in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until prunes absorb almost all liquid, stirring occasionally (about 10 minutes).
5. Transfer duck to platter, and tent with foil to keep warm. Pour off fat from pan (saving some for later days!), add remaining ¾ cup wine to roasting pan, set over medium heat and bring to boil, scraping up any browned bits. Add wine mixture to prune mixture; simmer until prune-wine reduction sauce is reduced to 1 cup, about 4 minutes.
6. Bring cabbage to simmer, tossing occasionally. Slice duck; arrange on plates. Spoon prune-wine reduction sauce over top, and serve cabbage alongside.