Duck a L'Orange

Photo: Bobbi Lin

Ingredients

• 1 duck - thawed, giblets removed
• 1 onion
• 1 stalk celery
• 2 slices ginger
• small handful of thyme
• juice of 2 oranges
• 1 cup port or Madeira
• zest of one of the oranges, julienned and simmered for two minutes then drained
• 2 Tbl brown sugar
• salt

Method

The day before cooking stuff duck with onion and celery. Truss duck and place breast side up, in a large pot. Half cover with water. Add neck (if you can be bothered roasting this with some slivered onion to add some brownness) and a small handful of thyme and the ginger slices.

Half cover with water. Bring to boil then reduce heat to a slight simmer. After one hour turn duck breast side down. Simmer for ½ an hour. Turn off and let cool.

When cool remove duck to a roasting dish. (This will be a delicate operation. The duck will try to fall apart). Take great care not to break up the skin.

Refrigerate duck and stock overnight.

The next day get duck from the fridge and bring to room temp. Remove trussing string. Remove fat from duck stock.

Add one cup of stock and half a cup of port or Madeira to roasting dish, add orange juice and reduce stock to about ½.

To finish, roast the duck in a 200-degree oven, basting every so often with juices in the pan.The duck is done when well heated through and the skin crisp and chestnut brown.

Transfer duck to serving plate whole, or carve and organise on a platter. De-glaze the pan with the remaining ½ cup Madeira and add to the reduced stock. Bring to boil and season. Reduce to a syrup.

Beat in a knob of butter off the heat before serving, or if the sauce is not yet reduced enough and too thin to be rounded out with butter, thicken with a little cornstarch.

Alternatively, bone duck into two thigh leg portions and two 'supremes'.

Submerge in simmering lard and cook for 40 minutes. Allow to cool in fat. This will keep in the fridge for many days.

Make stock as above with the carcass and giblets of the duck. Remove from fat, taking great care not to damage skin.

Cook duck in a hot oven. Crisp skin and heat through thoroughly. (Can be done in a sandwich press with flat plates. Take care to heat the sandwich press well and to grease the plates.)

Make a syrupy sauce and spoon over the crisp-skinned duck.