Mmmm….duck, another meal I should not have made right before the wedding. It’s just so delicious though. I also find that whole duck is often over-cooked, or I just prefer under-cooked, whichever way you want to look at it but I don’t like dry meat. This preparation yields a very moist little duck, and it’s relatively easy for such an impressive looking dinner. It’s perfect for a romantic dinner for two if you’ve been dating long enough not to care about being a little messy.

Before going in the oven…

Just out of the oven…..beautiful color.

Cut and served with roasted veggies piled on!


Roasted Duck with Cherry Balsamic Glaze

  • 3 stalks celery, cut into large sticks or chunks
  • 4 carrots (we have organic ones which are smaller), cut into large sticks or chunks
  • 2 small onions, cut into wedges
  • 1 (3.5 pound) whole duck (Chinese supermarket kind, likely Pekin)
  • 3 tablespoons aged cherry balsamic (from O & Co.)
  • 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 10 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 star anise

Preheat oven to 400 degrees if using convection, 425 without convection.

1. Line the roasting pan with celery, carrots, and onions, beneath the rack.
2. Cut excess fat off the duck and pierce the skin of the duck with a fork in several spots and lay on the rack breast side up.
3. Mix aged cherry balsamic, mustard, and garlic together and brush onto duck.
4. Pull thyme leaves off the stems and sprinkle on the outside of the duck. Tuck the stems into the cavity. Sprinkle the inside and outside with salt and pepper.
5. Place the star anise on the inside of the cavity.
6. Roast for 20 minutes and turn the duck over so that breast side is down. Baste with more cherry balsamic mixture and place it back in the oven for another 10 minutes.
7. Turn the duck over again, now breast side up, baste again, and roast another 5 minutes or until the internal temperature is 160 degrees. You may need to cover the legs with aluminum foil so they don’t burn.
8. Rest for another 5 minutes before serving.

notes:

~If the duck neck was included, throw it in the roasting pan, basted and seasoned. It’ll be done after 20 minutes, so you can have a snack while you’re waiting for your duck. The neck is one of my favorite parts!!

~The roasted vegetables on the bottom don’t look that pretty but they are delicious, trust me, caramelized vegetable candy! Make sure to strain off as much fat as possible, otherwise they will taste oily.

~I served it with some left-over cous cous and super fresh broccoli rabe that I bought at the farmer’s market on Saturday. Fantastic!

posted by jessica at 07:35 PM Filed under American, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.