Stuff a Duck!

Sage & Onion is lovely but I think a duck or goose needs something more festive. Sage has a medicinal musty taste – which I love, but here’s something a little more uplifting.

2 tbs Olive oil

4 shallots, chopped

4 celery sticks

2 Bramley apples

175g Pecan nuts

150g breadcrumbs

A large bunch parsley, chopped

25g Thyme, chopped

½ tsp each ground cloves and cinnamon

Zest and juice of 2 oranges

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

110g melted butter

Salt & pepper

Even the ingredients sound like Christmas. You can make this ahead and freeze it so if you have a spare hour on a Sunday afternoon, making this would be the perfect accompaniment to Radio 4’s Classic Serial.  Assume your guy is out, finally making a start on his Christmas shopping, with just days to go, as usual. Including this as part of his Christmas dinner will impress him. He knows you do the cooking but he sort of imagines dinner just comes together by itself. This is so full of flavour though, it will stop him in his tracks.

Sweat the shallots in the oil until soft and allow them to cool. Peel, core and chop the apples (they have to be Bramleys or another sour cooking apple) and chop the celery. Warm the pecans in a dry frying pan and roughly chop. You may end up having to pick the pecans out of a selection of mixed nuts!

Mix everything in a large bowl, adding the melted butter last, and season well. Despite its name I never use this to actually stuff a bird – I think it just adds to the cooking time and doesn’t materially add to the flavour (though a halved lemon and a sprig of herbs pushed up its bottom is a generally a good idea). You can roll the mixture into balls and bake them but I prefer to press the mixture into a shallow baking tin – that way it will be crisp and crunchy on the top and moist in the middle. Dot with butter and bake at 190 for 25 mins.

Your boy often makes crude jokes about “stuffing” – this seemingly isn’t something exclusive to straight boys. He doesn’t make jokes about this just in case it jeopardises his chances of getting some more.