I agree with the other reviewers that a duck that size cannot feed four hungry adults. This was for just three people and there wasn't much to go around. Also, a lot of cooks say duck legs and breasts deserve different treatment and I concur. This was my first duck and I loved how the breast meat came out, but not the legs so much. The stuffing is terrific and I followed the recipe faithfully, using a homemade corn bread recipe from a cajun cookbook and mositened with some homemade chicken stock on hand. If I do this again, I may just go with breasts alone and cook the dressing separately.

Reviewed On: Dec. 6, 2005

Made this the other night for the family. I used Samuel Adams Black Lager for the beer, Starbucks Christmas Blend for the coffee and homemade veal stock I keep on hand for the beef broth. I also used half kidney beans, half black. I used four different peppers that looked good in the market at the time. In this case 1 Anaheim, 1 Serrano, 1 Jalapeño and 1 Poblano--these are mostly on the less hot side of the Scoville scale. People, when the recipe calls for "hot chile peppers" you're not going to find them in the market marked as such, there are MANY kinds of chile peppers and the ones you choose will make your recipe more or less hot. For example, if you replaced Habanero for the Anaheim in the peppers I used you'd have a MUCH higher heat content. It turned really well. My wife--not a big chili fan--loved it. I used the full brown sugar and liked the sweetness. I would recommend trying it full sugar first to see if you prefer it that way. It starts out sweet and the chili peppers kick in as an after-taste. Served it with cheddar corn bread and the leftover beer and it was a big hit. The next day it was even better as the flavors come together and sirloin really tenderizes while marinating in the chili overnight. My only complaint is that it had too many beans. But that's a personal preference. Next time I'll cut the beans in half and add more meat instead.

Reviewed On: Dec. 6, 2005