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Turkey might be the traditional choice for a roast, but a beautifully roasted duck with vibrant orange and zesty lemon offers an elegant alternative. The rich, tender meat absorbs the citrus flavours perfectly, creating a dish that feels both indulgent and looks rather good, too. Duck is far easier to prepare than many imagine, too, so do have a go. You might never come back to turkey. Merry Christmas.
Ingredients
1 x 2kg duck
1 orange, cut in to 2cm pieces
1 lemon, cut into 2cm pieces
75g honey
75ml port
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
Sea salt
Method
Take out the giblets from the duck and place them in a separate tray with chopped leek, carrot, celery and parsley stalks. Place this in the bottom of the oven and cook for 30 minutes. Place into a sauce pan, add 1 litre of water and reduce on the stove so you only have half the liquid. Keep to one side.
In a medium size bowl, mix together the chopped lemon and orange and thyme branches, fill up the duck cavity with them.
Take a roasting tray and put a wire rack that fits into the roasting tray. Place the duck in the middle of the roasting rack. Take some tin foil and rub olive oil on the inside of the tin foil, this is to stop the duck skin sticking to the tin foil. Cover the duck so there are no gaps. Place in a pre-heated oven and cook for 45 minutes.
Remove the tin foil and pour out all the excess juice and keep to one side; there will be a lot of duck fat in this juice.
Take a serrated knife and run the knife all over the duck, to release the fat deposits that are on the surface, dab the duck with some kitchen towel so the surface is drier then using a pastry brush, brush on the honey on all sides, place back in the oven and cook for a further hour.
While the duck is cooking, make the sauce by skimming off the fat from the duck cooking liquid. Finely chop 2 shallots, and soften with 50g butter, cook gently for 5 minutes, add the port and reduce by half, add 25g honey and then add the skimmed duck juice and the roasted giblet stock. Cook on a medium heat until the liquid has reduced to about 150ml, skim off any excess fat and keep to one side.
Remove the duck from the oven, and carve off the legs and breasts, cut in to 2 cm pieces and place on a nice serving dish, pour over half of the sauce and serve the rest on the side.
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