Duck! It’s a great clean meat and a perfect addition to spice up your regular weekly menu. What’s even better? It’s loaded with health benefits to boot!
Duck is very high in protein and minerals such as selenium, phosphorous, zinc, iron, copper and sodium. Vitamins like riboflavin, niacin, thiamine, pantothenic acid, vitamin b6 and b12 are in abundance. The fat in the duck is one of the keys to this recipe’s depth of flavor.
Duck fat is quite healthy (about 35% saturated, 52% monounsaturated, and only 13% PUFA), and even a small amount of meat will produce some of this “liquid gold.” Don’t throw it out – save it & add that finger-licking duck fat flavor to any kind of roasted vegetables. I love to use it on my sweet potato fries. Soooo delicious!
Roasting is a super simple way to cook your duck. Some use the oven, but I prefer to use my roaster (you can find it here) because it frees up the oven for side dishes and is super easy to clean up! (I especially enjoy this in the fall, it just seems to fit!)
Happy roasting! =)
- One 5-6 lb, All-Natural, Delicious, Raw Duck
- Butter, Organic and Grassfed
- Himalayan Sea Salt
- Course Ground Black Pepper, Organic
- All-Purpose Seasoning, Organic
- One Large Red Onion, Organic, Diced
- 3 Large Cloves of Garlic, Organic
- 1 Stalk Celery, Organic
- Remove the neck and giblets from the cavity and trim away the extra fat with a pair of kitchen shears. Save the neck and innards (except for the liver) to make bone broth (either in a pressure cooker or slow cooker).
- Put the duck in a roasting pan (make sure to spray the roaster & rack with coconut oil ahead of time to speed up clean up time) and poke the skin all over with a sharp needle or knife tip, being careful not to pierce the flesh.
- Set the pan in the sink. Bring a kettle of water to a boil, and pour the water all over the duck. The hot water will shrink the skin. Turn over the duck, breast side down, and let it “bathe” in the hot water for about 5 minutes.
- Take the duck out of the water, pat dry. In the cavity of the duck, place the garlic cloves, onion, and celery. Truss the duck. (There are varied items you can use inside the duck from lemon halves to orange halves, and thyme, rosemary, etc. You can play with this a little according to the flavors you want to be infused in the bird!)
- Sprinkle the duck liberally with salt, pepper, and all-purpose seasoning and massage it into the skin. Set it into your roaster and apply pats of butter over the top of the bird. You will use the melted butter and fat drippings to occasionally baste it along the way to prevent it from being dry.
- Roast at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Flip the bird, breast side down, baste with its juices, and then roast for another 45 minutes. Flip the bird back, right side up, baste again, and then roast for another 45 minutes.
- Remove your bird from the roaster and let it 'rest' on a platter for at least 15 minutes before slicing! Enjoy!
