Roast Duck With Orange Sauce - Canard A L' Orange Julia Child

Total Time: 3 hrs Preparation Time: 2 hrs Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1 duck giblets (along with neck, wing tips cut into 1-inch pieces, if not in frozen duck, use some of the fat from d)
• 1 carrot (sliced)
• 1 onion (sliced)
• 1 cup bouillon (beef)
• 3 cups water
• 4 parsley sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon sage
• 1 quart water
• 4 oranges
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup vinegar (red wine)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 3/4 cup port wine (i use ruby port)
• 1 1/2 ounces orange liqueur
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
• 1 tablespoon butter (softened)
• 2 lbs ducklings
• salt (to taste)
• pepper (to taste)

Recipe

• 1 start the stock for the sauce well in advance.
• 2 brown duck parts with carrot and onion in oil. (or brown carrot and onion with gleaned duck fat).
• 3 add bullion and water.
• 4 simmer with herbs and reduce to 2 cups.
• 5 skim fat, any scum, strain, and set aside, or refrigerate until needed.
• 6 to begin the sauce, bring water to simmer while preparing orange peel.
• 7 the peel is for both the roasting duck, and the sauce. this also, needs to be done in advance.
• 8 peel oranges, making sure that the strips are only the orange colored part, not the bitter .
• 9 julienne into strips about 1/8" or less by 1 1/2 ".
• 10 simmer in water 6 minutes, drain, rinse in cold water, dry, and set aside.
• 11 peel orange segments, put in covered container, and set aside, or refrigerate.
• 12 prepare duck by trimming loose fat, making sure all feathers are gone, and remove wishbone from breast (optional).
• 13 prick skin to allow fat to escape, and to baste the duck during the cooking.
• 14 season cavity of ducks with salt and pepper, and place 1/3 of orange peel and 1/3 of orange segments inside.
• 15 the small ducklings will take about 25 to 30 minutes to roast, so you might want to continue the sauce at this point and preheat the oven to 450°f.
• 16 in a saucepan, blend sugar and vinegar over low heat to dissolve.
• 17 boil rapidly until mixture begins to caramelize.
• 18 lower heat to simmer, add half the duck stock, and stir until mixture is no longer caramelized.
• 19 remove from heat.
• 20 add remaining stock, blended cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of the port, remaining orange peel, and all but a few orange segments (saved for garnish).
• 21 simmer for 3-4 minutes, correct seasoning, and keep warm. sauce should be clear and slightly thickened.
• 22 place ducklings on rack in small roasting pan, breast side up and place in oven.
• 23 roast 5 minutes, reduce heat to 350°f, and turn on side, and place back in oven.
• 24 continue to roast and turn, until duck is breast up. roast 25 to 30 minutes total.
• 25 when ducklings are done (juice will be rosy clear) place on warmed individual platters and keep warm.
• 26 finish sauce by removing fat from roasting pan and deglaze with port.
• 27 add to sauce.
• 28 bring sauce to simmer, add orange liqueur, and correct seasoning with lemon juice if sauce seems too sweet.
• 29 remove sauce from heat, swirl in butter and spoon some over ducks and put remainder in a warmed sauceboat.
• 30 garnish ducks with remaining orange segments, place rice and peas on platters and serve.