Dorothy Dean-inspired dish a rich, juicy holiday option

With crispy, crackling skin and intense flavor, roast duck makes a rich main dish for holiday dinners. But the element that makes it so succulent is also what makes it seem so intimidating.

Duck is such a fatty bird.

It’s also a fragrant, elegant and – in this day and age – largely unexpected alternative to a traditional turkey or roast.

After trimming the fat, cooking duck isn’t as messy or as complicated as it might seem. Because it is so well insulated, duck requires little attention once it’s in the oven. And the result is a rich, juicy and bronzed thing of beauty.

I had my first bite in Paris more than 20 years ago. The duck breast came with black currants in cassis sauce and seemed so refined and, somehow, exotic. (Growing up, we ate a lot of chicken.)

As an adult, I’ve roasted plenty of chickens, turkeys, Cornish game hens – but never a duck. This holiday season seemed like a good time to go for it. And, like many local home cooks before me, I turned to Dorothy Dean.

For decades, women of the Inland Northwest looked to Dorothy Dean when planning their holiday dinners. Even though her official reign at The Spokesman-Review ended more than 30 years ago, her influence remains strong – especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas, when many longtime fans rediscover their favorite recipes.

Digging up an early roast duck recipe required a trip to the newspaper’s archives – as well as checking newer recipes for cooking methods and modern food safety practices.

Dorothy Dean’s 1938 recipe for Roast Duck with Mushroom Stuffing focuses on the stuffing and doesn’t offer too many roasting tips, especially for a first-timer. So I consulted the website of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which warns of bacterial growth in stuffing. Rather than risk it, I cooked the stuffing in a separate baking pan instead of inside the bird. For presentation purposes, I stuffed the cooked dressing into the cooked bird.

For additional roasting tips, I turned to Martha Stewart.

I also made a few changes to the stuffing, which was heavy on bread crumbs, butter and bacon fat and short on mushrooms and anything green.

Perhaps that’s a sign of the times. When this recipe was written, America was still feeling the effects of the Great Depression, a time of soup lines, resourcefulness and hardship. Day-old bread helped stretch all kinds of recipes and might explain the ratio.

The recipe calls for 6 cups of bread crumbs but only 1 cup of mushrooms. Since they shrink during cooking, that didn’t seem quite right to me, so I doubled the amount. Next time, I would even add another cup, for a total of 3. After all, mushrooms are the title ingredient in this savory stuffing, which seems to spotlight the bread rather than the fungi. Instead of actual “crumbs,” I used crouton-sized chunks of dried, buttered and seasoned bread.

Since I had to make bacon in order to render drippings for this recipe, I figured I might as well include some of the crispy bits for extra flavor and texture. So I crumbled four slices and added them.

I also added a clove of garlic, minced, as well as an extra ½ cup of celery. Another ½ cup on top of that, doubling the called-for amount from 1 to 2 cups, would have been better. The herbaceous celery added crunch and color to an otherwise brown stuffing. I also used plenty of fresh thyme – instead of dried – because I had some on hand.

Dorothy Dean calls for water or cream to keep the stuffing moist, and I used cream. But vegetables also help keep stuffing moist, and if I make this recipe again, I would add more of them – as well as stock, white wine or milk – instead of the cream and bacon fat. Water chestnuts would also add crunch.

Next time I make roast duck, however, I want to try to replicate the version I first had in France so many years ago.

Meantime, here’s Dorothy Dean’s Roast Duck with Mushroom Stuffing recipe, plus a few other favorite holiday main dishes from throughout the decades.

Roast Duck with Mushroom Stuffing, 1938

2 tablespoons minced onion

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup bacon drippings

6 cups bread crumbs

1 cup diced celery

1/4 cup minced parsley

1/4 cup minced celery leaves

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup melted butter

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/8 teaspoon thyme

1/8 teaspoon marjoram

Cold water or cream to moisten

Brown minced onion and sliced mushrooms in bacon drippings; combine with other ingredients, mixing well; add sufficient cream or water to moisten. Stuff lightly into 4- to 6-pound duck which has been cleaned and prepared for roasting. There will be more than enough stuffing, so the remaining portion can be baked in a separate pan, during last hour of time for roasting duck. Start duck in a hot oven (450 degrees); after lightly browned, reduce temperature to moderate oven (350 degrees), allowing 12 to 15 minutes roasting time per pound. Strips of bacon can be placed across breast of duck. During roasting baste with orange juice and hot water.

Roasting method

Adapted from marthastewart.com

1 4- to 6-pound duck

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon pepper

Pat duck dry with paper towels. Use kitchen shears or a sharp paring knife to cut away fatty deposits and excess skin around neck area and just inside the bird’s cavity. Cut through last joint of wings to remove wing tips.

Use paring knife to make shallow pricks everywhere but drumsticks. Score skin of breast in a crosshatch pattern. Be careful not to cut all the way through skin into flesh. Season inside and outside of duck. Place duck, breast side up, on rack in pan. Roast for 50 minutes.

Remove pan from oven. Spoon off excess fat from pan. To ensure even browning, turn duck twice during roasting. Return duck, breast side down, on rack to pan. Roast for 50 minutes.

Flip duck, breast side up, and roast until duck registers 165 degree on an instant-read thermometer, about 50 minutes more. Let stand for 15 minutes before stuffing or carving.

Note: Stuffing is “an excellent medium for bacterial growth,” according to the Food and Safety Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But Dorothy Dean’s recipe, which is 70-plus years old, doesn’t address important food safety issues. So, here are a few tips from the FSIS website at www.fsis.usda.gov/ for stuffing poultry.

Dry and wet ingredients can be made ahead and chilled. But wet and dry ingredients shouldn’t be mixed until just before spooning the mixture into a poultry cavity. Stuff the bird loosely, about ¾ cup per pound, according to the FSIS website, which also says, “The stuffing should be moist, not dry, because heat destroys bacteria more rapidly in a moist environment.”

Place the stuffed bird immediately into the oven heated to at least 325 degrees and use a food thermometer to make sure the stuffing reaches a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees. Take the stuffed bird out of the oven and let it stand 20 minutes before removing the stuffing, and be sure to refrigerate cooked poultry and stuffing within 2 hours.

Maple Glazed Ham, 1939

Remove wrappings from a 10- or 12-pound holiday ham. Rewrap ham loosely in the glassine wrapper, and place fat side up on rack in open roasting pan. Bake at 300 degrees, allowing 18 to 20 minutes per pound. One hour before done, remove from oven, unwrap, remove rind, and cut large and small stars here and there in fat by means of cookie cutters and score the fat in diagonals surrounding the star shapes. Insert whole cloves in the cut portions. Cover with a spreading of maple syrup which has been cooked until it barely spins a thread and has been further flavored with maple flavoring. Return to oven for 15 minutes.

Remove the ham from oven again, and by means of toothpicks attach maraschino cherries in the star shapes to outline the designs made. Surrounding them, attach halves of canned pineapple rings that have been well drained. Pour more of the maple syrup mixture over the ham, return to oven for 10 minutes. Pour remaining maple syrup mixture over the ham, and allow to remain in oven until baking time is completed. Remove from oven and serve either hot or cold, removing picks from fruit, which should stay in place.

Stuffed Breast of Lamb, 1939

3 pounds breast of lamb, boned

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon minced onion

2/3 cup diced celery

1/2 cup butter

8 cups soft bread crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

Few grains pepper

1/4 cup minced parsley

1/8 teaspoon sage

1/8 teaspoon marjoram

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/2 cup boiling water

1/2 cup mint jelly

1/4 cup vinegar

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups boiling water

Sprinkle the lamb with salt and pepper. Fry the onion and the celery in the butter until delicately browned. Add the bread crumbs, and cook about 2 minutes, mixing lightly. Remove from heat, add seasonings and beaten egg, mixing well. Place stuffing on one side of each piece of lamb, folding other side over to make two or three rolls. Tie or skewer each roll securely, and place in a covered baking dish. Bake uncovered in a hot oven (450 degrees) for 15 minutes, until nicely browned; then add the half cup of boiling water, cover, and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) for 1 ¾ hours, basting occasionally with liquid in pan. Spread with part of the combined melted mint jelly and vinegar, uncover and bake for 30 minutes longer, basting frequently with the remaining mint jelly and vinegar mixture. Remove lamb to hot platter, and make gravy from drippings in the pan by adding the flour that has been stirred to a smooth paste with a small amount of cold water, and then the boiling water.

Stuffed Pork Shoulders, 1951

Select a pork shoulder of the desired size and have it boned, leaving a pocket for stuffing. Fill with corn bread dressing and sew or tie in shape. Place on a rack in an open pan, fat side up. Roast in 325-degree oven for 45 to 60 minutes to the pound. (The larger the roast, the shorter time per pound. If a thermometer is used, roast to an internal temperature of 185 degrees.) Remove pot roast to a hot platter and make gravy with drippings, if desired. This type of roast will make two servings per pound of meat purchased.

Corn Bread Stuffing

1/4 cup finely cut pork fat (trimmed from roast)

4 cups corn bread crumbs

1/4 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup diced celery

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1/2 teaspoon sage (optional)

2 eggs

1/2 cup water

Toss ingredients together lightly and fill pocket of roast. If too much dressing has been made, bake the remainder in a casserole or pan, covered, for about 30 minutes. Remove cover and continue baking for 15 to 30 minutes, or until browned.

Classic Pot Roast, 1958

3 to 4-pound beef pot roast

3 tablespoons fat

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 medium onion, sliced

1/2 cup water

Brown meat thoroughly in hot fat in Dutch oven or other heavy utensil, allowing about 20 minutes. (For richer color, dust with flour before browning.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Slip rack under meat to prevent sticking. Add onion and water, cover pan tightly and simmer over low heat 2 ½ to 3 hours or until very tender when pierced with a fork. Add water, if needed, to keep ½ inch of liquid in pan. Turn once or twice during cooking. Pot roast can also be baked in a covered roaster at 325 degrees. If you wish, about 1 hour before end of cooking time, add 6 medium potatoes, pared, 6 carrots, scraped, and 6 onions, peeled.

To make gravy: Skim off all but 2 or 3 tablespoons fat; add enough water to make 2 cups liquid. Blend 3 tablespoons flour and ½ cup water to thin paste; slowly stir into liquid. Cook until bubbling and thickened, stirring constantly. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Yield: 6 servings