DUCK A L’ORANGE

 

Classic French recipe revisited by numerous cooks…. Try this one, you won’t be disappointed! Pair this outstanding meat with a Chateauneuf-du-Pape, red wine from the Southern Rhone Valley. Enjoy!

 

Preparation: 2 hours; cooking time: 3 h 30 minutes

Serving 2-3

 

1 duck (neck, gizzards, heart and first two wing joints reserved for the orange sauce)

1 cup of water

Salt and pepper

Ingredients for the orange sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion

2 garlic cloves unpeeled and crushed

1 big tomato

2 carrots

1 celery rib

1 bouquet garni (parsley, thyme and bay leaf)

1 ½ tbsp of flour

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 cups chicken bouillon

½ cup white wine

2 oranges

2 tbsp Cointreau

3 tbsp honey

1 tbsp of orange marmalade

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp of butter

 

Preparation of the orange sauce:

Peel and chop the onion, carrots and celery. Cut the tomato into pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan on medium-high heat. Add the neck, gizzards, heart and wing joints taken from the duck. Season with salt and pepper. Brown the meat (about 10-12 minutes).

Add all the vegetables and bouquet garni. Cook a few minutes until soften. Stir the flour and tomato paste. Add gradually the chicken stock and wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 hour. Strain the sauce into a bowl, pressing in the vegetables and meat.

Remove the zest of the 2 oranges. Boil some water in a small saucepan and add the zest. Blanch the zest for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Pat dry and set aside.

Squeeze the oranges.

In a medium saucepan, warm the honey. Add the orange juice and the orange marmalade. Bring to a boil. Add the strained duck sauce and cook over medium heat to reduce slightly, about 10 minutes.

Add the Cointreau and season with salt and pepper. Swirl in the tbsp of butter. Keep warm.

 

Preparation of the duck:

Preheat the oven to 450 F.

Prick the duck on the back, breasts and around the thighs. Season the duck inside and out with salt and pepper.

Set a rack in a roasting pan. Add 1 cup of water in the pan.

Place the duck breast up on the rack and roast for 20 minutes.

Turn the oven temperature down to 350 F.

Turn the duck on the side and roast for 30 minutes. Turn the duck on the other side and roast for 30 minutes longer. Turn the duck breast side up and roast for 40 more minutes.

Take the juice out of the cavity of the duck and put it into the orange sauce.

Carve the duck. Serve with the sauce and orange zest.

Bon Appétit!