What's on the Grill #228: Grilled Duck with Honey Mango Chutney Sauce
I've had a duck in the freezer for a couple months waiting for just the right time to thaw it out and throw it on the grill. "Just the right time" happened to be our extended power outage a few weeks ago. This wasn't exactly the moment I hoped for. On the bright side, when you have a lot of rapidly thawing frozen food, at least it's a great excuse to put the grill into overdrive.
I've talked before about how much I love duck. Any chance I have to order it or eat, I take. It is a magical meat I really treasure. Fortunately, if you can grill a chicken, you can grill a duck. The process is similar and really the only difference is the scoring and piercing of the duck's skin to allow all of that great duck fat to drain out when rendering.
For something extra, I added in a Honey Mango Chutney Sauce. Although the meal certainly wasn't planned as originally intended, it worked great. I mean it's duck, what is there not to like?
Grilled Duck with Honey Mango Chutney Sauce
Sauce adapted from Epicurious
1 4-5 pound duck
1 T olive oil
salt & pepper
1 T vegetable oil
3 mangoes, peeled, pitted, chopped
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup honey
5 T white wine vinegar
1 T minced peeled fresh ginger
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1. Prep the grill for indirect medium heat.
2. Prep the duck by scoring the breast skin and piercing the skin in several other places with a sharp knife. Rub the duck with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Place in the grill, over a drip pan, and cook for approximately 1 1/2 hours or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees F.
4. For the sauce, heat oil in a large pan. Add in the mangoes, onion, red bell pepper and garlic, cook until soft, then add in the stock, honey, vinegar & ginger.
5. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 1 - 2 hours. Stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper.
6. Carve the duck and serve with the sauce.
