“Mushrooms bring out the deep, rich undertones in game. Buttons and portabella mushrooms work well in this classic duck recipe, but you might want to kick it up a notch with more exotic varieties. Maybe you found a handful of oyster mushrooms growing from a log on the way out of the marsh. Maybe you want to rehydrate those morels in Mason jars above your stove. You can also buy a variety of mushrooms—such as shiitake and oyster— in the grocery store. Avoid using strong-tasting ducks such as bufflehead, scaup, or shoveler in this recipe and go for prime-eating puddlers, or divers such as canvasback, redhead, or ringneck.”
Any quantity of choice plucked ducks
Salt, pepper, and thyme to taste
2 tablespoons butter per duck plus more for final browning
1/4 pound fresh mushrooms per duck
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley per duck
1 minced garlic clove per duck
2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup red wine
Flour or cornstarch for gravy
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Generously season duck inside and out with salt pepper, and thyme. Heat a large skillet and melt butter in it. Brown ducks well on both sides. Remove ducks breast side down to a roasting pan. Brown garlic, parsley, and mushrooms in drippings that remain in skillet or add more butter as necessary;
deglaze skillet with broth and wine and pour over ducks. Cover roaster and cook for 2 hours. If breasts are not brown at this point turn the ducks over and brush with butter. Turn oven up to 400 degrees and brown for an additional 15 minutes. Separate out fat from roasting juices, and thicken the latter with flour or cornstarch to make gravy. If using dried mushrooms, soak them in water as you skillet-brown the ducks; add the reconstituted mushrooms in place of fresh ones and use mushroom water in bottom of roasting pan.