Duck with Oranges (Canard à l'orange)

Ingredients

• 2 sour apples
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 8 untreated oranges
• 80 g ground almonds
• 0.5 tsp ground piment
• Salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 pre-cooked duck (about 2 kg)
• 300 ml poultry stock (glass)
• 2 tbsp honey
• 40 ml orange liqueur

Instructions

1. 1.

   Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

2. 2.

   Wash, peel, quarter, core the apples and dice them. Drizzle with lemon juice. Wash the thyme and rosemary sprigs, shake dry, and pluck the leaves from the stems. Separate fillets from two oranges and mix into the apples. Stir in ground almonds and piment, then season with salt and pepper.

3. 3.

   Wash the duck, pat it dry, and rub both inside and out with salt and pepper. Fill the cavity with the apple mixture and sew the belly opening with kitchen twine. Poke a sharp object under the wings, place the duck breast-side down in a roasting pan, pour 200 ml hot water into the pan, and roast for 1.5 hours. Baste intermittently with poultry stock.

4. 4.

   Peel five oranges with a sharp knife and also filet them. Wash the remaining orange hot, remove zest with a zester, and squeeze out the juice.

5. 5.

   Turn the duck over, add the orange fillets, juice, and zest, then continue roasting for another half hour while basting repeatedly until the skin is crisp.

6. 6.

   After cooking, remove the duck from the oven and place it on a rack. Brush with honey and let rest in the turned-off oven for 15 minutes.

7. 7.

   Remove the fillets from the sauce, de-fat the sauce, strain through a fine sieve, and bring to a boil. Stir in orange liqueur, taste, and thicken if desired. Add the orange fillets back into the sauce.

8. 8.

   Plate the duck with the sauce in a roasting pan and serve hot.