Dodine de cannard Somerset Style

Having seen Michel Roux Jnr's masterclasses on the T.V. in the week following Professional Master chef. I decided to have a go at special dish for Boxing Day 2012. I was impressed with his Dodine de Cannard which is a cold meat pate that can be used, as a sliced meat, in a cold cuts buffet.
The original recipe is called 'Dodine de canard aux pistaches' but as I don't like nuts I decided to adapt it a little to my own style. It's not a quick thing to prepare but it is worth the effort and I have found it to be fairly straight forward to do. So lets start at the beginning with the ingredients.

1. A Duck
2. A chicken
3. Some Pork sausage meat
4. A small packet of stuffing
5. A selection of roasting vegetables
6. Some fresh Rosemary
7. A selection of fresh mixed herbs
8. Fresh ground salt and pepper
9. A little Garlic salt
10. A little Brandy
11. A little Sherry
12. White wine vinegar

Step 1

Bone the duck. Take a sharp knife and carefully slice down the middle of the ducks back. Slice the meat away from the bones, without removing the tips of your fingers, sliding the sharp blade along the bone structure. After removing the skeleton lay the opened bird on a flat tray skin side down. Marinate with a little brandy, some seasoning a few fresh herbs and a sprinkling of sherry.

 Wrap in cling film and leave to chill for 24 hours.

Step 2
Make the packet stuffing and when cool mix with the pork sausage meat. Season and put to one side to rest.
De bone the chicken in the same way as you did with the duck.(If you want to skip this phase you can use ready bout chicken breasts.) Remove the skin from the chicken and wrap the meat around the pork stuffing mix. Place this in the center of the opened duck and close the duck around the filling.

Sew the bird back together using butchers twine and a large needle and finally tie the joint together to prevent it splitting apart in the cooking phase.

Prepare your roasting vegetables roughly chopped. I used parsnip, carrot, onion, potato, swede and turnip. But you can use any roast-able vegetable you like. Sprinkle with a light seasoning and a few herbs along with the minimum of cooking oil. Garnish the duck with sprigs of fresh rosemary and roast in the oven for 2 1/2 hours on a low setting.
The above is my adaptation of the original recipe which can contain duck liver and pistachios in the stuffing mix.
Once removed from the oven allow to cool and refrigerate for about 12 hours before slicing and serving.

The vegetable that have been roasted and infused with the flavours and marinades can be chopped roughly and served as a pickle with the addition of a little white wine vinegar. The unused chicken legs can be comfy'd seasoned and served separately.

The finished result is a slicing duck, chicken and pork pate that is rich in flavour, very very tasty and a bit of a showy item for your table.
Go on have a go it is worth the effort