-
Active Time
1 1/2 hr
-
Total Time
7 1/2 hr
Clementines take the place of oranges in this variation on the French classic duck à l'orange.
Borrowing the "twice cooked" approach from Chinese cuisine, we braise the ducks first for tender, unctuous meat, then roast them in a hot oven to crisp the skin. Part of the secret in getting duck skin crisp lies in successfully separating the skin and fat from the meat, which helps to drain off some of the fat.
Ingredients
Makes 8 servings
Special Equipment
Braise ducks:
Step 1
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
Step 2
Working from large cavity end, separate duck skin (including fat) from breast meat as much as possible by working your fingers between skin and meat, being careful not to tear skin, then prick skin all over ducks with a fork. Put ducks, breast sides up, side by side in a large flameproof roasting pan and rub each duck inside and out with kosher salt. Divide onions and celery between duck cavities and sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar around ducks. Pour enough boiling-hot water over ducks (to help tighten skin) to reach about halfway up ducks (don't fill roasting pan more than 1 inch from rim). Cover pan tightly with heavy-duty foil, then carefully transfer to oven and braise ducks 1 hour.
Step 3
Remove pan from oven and remove foil (do not discard), then carefully turn ducks over (breast sides down) using one large wooden spoon to turn and another inside cavity. Cover with foil, then carefully return to oven and braise until meat is very tender but not falling off the bone, about 1 hour more.
Chill ducks:
Step 4
Remove pan from oven and discard foil. Transfer ducks with wooden spoons to 2 large plates, draining any juices inside ducks back into pan, then transfer cooking liquid to a large bowl. Return ducks to roasting pan, breast sides up, and cool ducks and cooking liquid (separately), uncovered, then chill, uncovered, at least 4 hours (to firm up duck before roasting and to solidify fat on cooking liquid).
Prepare glaze and start sauce:
Step 5
Discard all fat from chilled cooking liquid.
Step 6
Remove zest from 2 large or 4 small clementines in strips with a vegetable peeler, then trim any white pith from zest with a sharp paring knife and cut zest into fine julienne strips. Blanch strips in a small saucepan of boiling water 5 minutes, then drain.
Step 7
Squeeze enough juice from remaining clementines to measure 2 cups and pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a 3-quart heavy saucepan. Add vinegar and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and boil until reduced to about 1/3 cup (glaze will bubble up and darken), about 15 minutes. Reserve 1 tablespoon glaze in a cup to brush on ducks, then stir julienned zest and 1 cup cooking liquid into glaze remaining in pan and reserve for sauce. Reserve remaining cooking liquid.
Roast ducks and finish sauce:
Step 8
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 500°F.
Step 9
Roast ducks until skin is crisp, 25 to 35 minutes. Brush reserved glaze (from cup) on ducks, then transfer ducks to a platter and let stand while finishing sauce, at least 10 minutes.
Step 10
Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from roasting pan and straddle pan over 2 burners. Add shallot and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened and pale golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Add 2 cups reserved cooking liquid and deglaze pan by boiling, scraping up brown bits, 2 minutes, then pour through fine-mesh sieve into sauce (containing julienned zest) and bring to a boil.
Step 11
Stir together liqueur and arrowroot and whisk into sauce. Simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes, then season sauce with salt and pepper. Serve ducks, whole or carved into serving pieces, with sauce.
• Ducks can be braised and chilled 1 day ahead. Chill cooking liquid separately.
• Glaze can be made and sauce can be started 6 hours ahead. Cool separately, uncovered, then chill, covered. Reheat glaze and stir before using.
Leave a Review
Reviews (26)
Back to TopMy efforts came out well enough, quite tasty, and not so much a frankenduck (only a little bit of the leg bones showing), but I don't think it's worth the time and mess. I will try a different recipe with the duck I have remaining in the freezer.
Anonymous
pittsburgh
2/17/2021
Frankenduck. Well said. It is delicious though. Spacng the prep throughout the day really helps as it is a time consuming process. I used a paring knife on the peel and wasn't overly concerned about the pith and it tasted fine. I will try shortening the braise time next time to see if that helps the appearance but really you can just slice it and serve it on a platter.
geriyoshioka
Chicago
12/26/2016
The appearance is not good but the flavor is. Cut the braising time in half.
Anonymous
Vero Beach, FL
2/2/2016
Thanks to all the reviews submitted my duck came out perfect. This was my first duck experiment and it was surprisingly good. As suggested in other reviews, I reduced the braising time to 35 minutes each side. Instead, I roasted the duck a little longer, breast up for 20 minutes at 500F, breast down at 400F for 20 minutes, and breast up at 400F for 10 minutes. I glazed the duck before and after roasting it. Since some reviews said the sauce came out thin, I used 2tbsp of arrowroot instead of 1.5tbsp and a little less clementine juice. It had the perfect consistency. All in all (with a few small adjustments) this duck was a delicious Christmas meal!
perfect_housewife
12/25/2012
In the end of it all the duck had a really nice flavor, but was it worth all that time? Probably not. It had a great taste, but if I were to make it again I would wait until I had to make several for a large group, but for the two of us, it wasn't worth it. One problem, besides the time involved, was that the recipe, as published, was very disjointed and difficult to make heads or tails of. Perhaps the original author could rewrite it to make it easier to follow. Bottom line was this: great flavors but not a meal for just two. If you're doing a meal for several and have the time, go for it!
rcheiss
Cleveland, Ohio
4/29/2012
Frankenduck is indeed the term with the bare bones sticking out - but the taste was amazing! Provided a delicious meal for the family and a lot of amusement too. Will definitely make again - maybe cut back a little on the braise time in hopes of a prettier end result? Also just used a microplaning zester on the tangerines rather than the listed method.
Lissirose
Hayward, CA
12/25/2011
绝对美味。这是我第一次马金g duck and I am a fairly inexperienced cook. I don't think it was terribly difficult or messy, though I did make it the night before the housekeeper came. I too used a zester rather than blanching strips of the rind, and I did half orange juice and half clementine juice. A tip on getting the fat to separate from the cooking liquid: put it in the freezer once it has cooled. I put the bowl in a Pyrex dish surrounded by ice and put a few baggies of ice in the bowl. It took 20 minutes for a solid layer of fat to form on the top and my sauce was not fatty in the least! Unfortunately the sauce doesn't keep well...but the glaze does!
mariwelch
Houston
1/14/2011
I made this recipe for Christmas Eve dinner and it turned out really great. In fact, so great this is the first time I've ever reviewed anything. I made 3 ducks since I had 6 people to feed and we have some leftover but not a ton. The only thing I did differently then the recipe is I used a zester to zest the clementines as using a peeler and then scraping off the pith and then julienne-ing the pieces seemed like too much work. Also, I ended up roasting the ducks longer at the end. Once they got golden I turned the oven down to 400 and roasted longer (I'm not sure how long, maybe another 30min) to get the inside temp up to 160 before I let them rest. The sauce was a little thin but great flavor. the birds looked incredible and tasted even better!
simi142
Lafayette, CO
12/25/2010
We skipped the part with the shallots and just put all our duck juice in with the orange/vinegar reduction and it was still ah-mah-zing!
irene8irene
Seattle, Wa
10/24/2010
A friend had made duck for Thanksgiving that was good, but not crisp. I felt I could do better so I made this for Christmas Eve, using only one duck. While almost all of the fat rendered out, I agree with a Cook from Baltimore that it made a big mess and seemed more involved than necessary. I have a dutch oven large enough for one duck, so I didn't have to deal with the foil - definite bonus. Also, who can actually poke holes in the skin with a fork without piercing the meat? I used kitchen scissors to nip holes in the skin - worked beautifully. This duck was tasty, but truly UGLY! So ugly that I took pictures and we had a good laugh! If you want to impress company with a lovely dish - don't use this one! My sauce didn't thicken properly, but I probably used too much liquid. Tasted good, but very thin.
Anonymous
Lexington, KY
12/26/2009
This recipe looks awesome! I have been looking for a main dish for Christmas Eve, and I think I just found one! :) ----- As someone mentioned this recipe being too complicated, here is a simpler one: http://www.cuisineetvinsdefrance.com/ recettes.php?idRecette=377. It's in French, but Google Translate can give the basics, even if you don't speak French...
rkolarsky
New Orleans
12/1/2009
Definitely my favorite roast duck recipe. It doesn't normally need the full two hours to braise though.
neilcorke
London, UK.
9/24/2008
虽然这道菜很好,但我不会做it again due to the large amount of work it took and mess it made. This generated quite a lot of duck fat and smoked up the oven pretty bad while roasting. The sauce was OK - but not good enough considering the effort and having to juice all of the citrus fruit. As with some other of the reviewers, I found that the skin and meat came off of the wing bones after braising which took away from the appearance of the cooked duck. All in all, I'd like to find an easier way to make a duck that tastes just as good or better (I've still had better in some restaruants so this wasn't the 'utlimate' duck recipe for me).
Anonymous
Baltimore, MD
1/6/2008
Wonderful recipe. One guest remarked it was the best duck she'd ever eaten, and another nearly finished off a whole duck all by himself! I reduced the braising time by 30 minutes, and although there was still some retraction of skin on the extremities as mentioned by sautedude, it wasn't very noticeable. Next time I will apply the glaze before chilling and roasting like you do for Peking duck. Also, after roasting there wasn't much of anything to deglaze in the pan except some burnt bits that discolored the sauce, so I plan to skip it and just add the 2 cups of broth to the sauce.
Anonymous
Minneapolis, MN
12/24/2007
Fabulous! My family has shared this recipe they like it so much
hjodrey
Jacksonville, Fl
11/13/2007
