One day years ago I killed a huge wild drake mallard. After taking some pics, I told my wife, "Why don't we have a fresh duck dinner for a change instead of sticking this baby away back in the freezer per usual?" She told me, "You're on! Why don't we go for broke and have real duck l'orange to boot?"
I steeped the cooking oil in the browning skillet with garlic and shallots, rubbed the duck all over with coarse ground black pepper, a little season salt, and a twinge of paprika. Then browned the duck all over quickly in the hot oil. Then I put it in a cast iron casserole-type pot with a pyrex lid into the oven at 275 degrees for 45 mins. or so. When the skin looked right, I removed the glass lid, turned the oven up as high as it would go (if I'd had one with "Turbo Boost" I would have hit that too!). When it reached 550 for about 5-6 minutes, I left the duck in until I could see the skin just starting to crisp, then turned the oven off, poured a full cup of Grand Marnier over the bird, and put the lid on and let it sit for around 15 minutes.
We had it with a fine French claret, real wild rice, and oven-browned fresh asparagus drizzed with lemon and butter. Makes me want to smoke a cigar just thinking about it!
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