Roast Duck with Honey-Pomegranate Glaze

T

The Tools

A long Sunday afternoon and lots of patience!

The Stuff

1 4-5 lb fresh duck (most groceries carry fresh duck now, I like D'Artagnan birds.  If you can only find frozen, that's ok too, just defrost it for 24 hours in the fridge beforehand)
kosher salt and fresh black pepper

The Glaze

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
2 tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice ( 1 juicy orange)

Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees.  Remove the innards from the duck and discard.  Wash and pat the duck dry and trim off all excess fat: pull neck skin down and under the bird and place on a roasting rack over your roasting pan.  Truss the legs with twine and then score the skin all over, making your cuts about an inch apart.  Make sure you cut down all the way through the skin and the fat layer to the meat so that the fat layer under the skin can render out and leave the skin super crispy.  Then take a skewer and pierce the skin and fat all over, paying careful attention to the portion by the legs where there is alot of fat stored.

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and quickly pour the hot water over the bird to tighten the skin up.  Discard the water in the bottom on the roasting pan.  Salt and pepper the bird generously leaving breast side up on rack and place on the oven on the center rack.

Here's the plan from there:

Roast bird for 1 hour at 300 degrees.

Flip bird, poke all over with skewer and put back in oven, 1 hour (2 total now)

Flip bird again,  poke all over with skewer and put back in oven, 1 hour (3 total now)

Flip bird again,  poke all over with skewer and put back in oven until breast meat registers 165 degrees in tempature, about 1 hour more (4 total now!!)
 

When there are 30 minutes left to the roasting process start the glaze by combining all ingredients over the lowest heat in a saucepan.  Let it reduce while the roasting finishes.

After the 4 hour marathon roast is done remove the bird from the oven and jack the heat up to 425 degrees.  Flip breast side up for the final time and place back in the oven for 5-7 minutes to crisp the skin.  Remove the bird from the oven and brush liberally with the reduce glaze and then back to the oven for 7-10 final minutes until the glaze is shiny!!  Take out your bird, let rest 10-15 minutes and then carve and enjoy your labor of love!!!