Roast Duck for Christmas the Easy Way

Make a delicious meal for your guests. Serve an easy Christmas roast duck with crispy potatoes and port sauce.

SERVES 10 People

COOKS IN 3 HOURS + MARINATING AND RESTING TIME

DIFFICULTY: IT ISN'T TOO DIFFICULT

Ingredients

• 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 1 nutmeg
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 oranges or blood oranges
• 2 x 2 kg whole ducks , necks and giblets reserved and roughly
• 8 cloves garlic
• 3 red onions
• a few stalks celery
• 3 carrots
• 5cm piece fresh ginger
• ½ stick cinnamon
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 kg Maris Piper potatoes
• 1 liter water or organic chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 200 ml Port

Preparation and Instructions 

1. Pick out one rosemary sprig's leaves. Grate half of the nutmeg and zest each orange. Set aside two oranges for stuffing the duck after cutting them in half.
2. Take a large piece of butcher paper and set it on the table. Put everything, including your ducks, on a large piece of butcher paper with one tablespoon sea salt in the center. All over the ducks, massage it thoroughly. Allow the mixture to rest for a few hours or overnight before grilling to allow the flavors to permeate throughout.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Arrange the shelves on the middle and bottom levels, then stuff the delicious, pasture raised duck meat that you purchased in-store or online from Circle C Farm with all of the rosemary sprigs, garlic cloves, and remaining orange halves.
4. In a large, deep-sided roasting tray, combine the whole onions, sliced celery and carrots, ginger, and cinnamon and bay leaves. Add the reserved duck neck and giblets to the mix.
5. Place the ducks breast-side down, flat on the bars of the middle shelf, then place the veg-filled roasting tray on the bottom shelf below them to catch all of the delicious fat that drips out.
6. Add pepper to the water, then set the chard in a strainer above it and chuff away. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and parboil for 5 to 10 minutes, then drain into a colander and chuff up gently.
7. After one hour, remove the bottom tray from the oven and replace it immediately with an empty tray. Fill a bowl with the fat from the veg tray. Place all of the veggies, duck pieces, and juices in a large saucepan along with a little boiling water to get rid of any stickiness from the pan bottom – this will become your gravy.
8. In a large saucepan, combine the soaked beans and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat while continuously stirring with a wooden spoon. When it starts to bubble, add 1 liter of water or chicken stock and bring back to a rolling boil.
9. Place your parboiled potatoes in the oven-safe tray. Add a few more tablespoons of duck fat from the bowl, season with salt and pepper, and re-insert underneath the ducks to cook for an hour.
10. 2 tablespoons duck fat should be heated in a saucepan. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a paste, then carefully add the contents of the saucepan and Port.
11. Bring the sauce to a boil, then simmer gently for half an hour, stirring occasionally. By now, the ducks should be completely cooked and ready to come out of the oven. Place them on a plate, cover loosely with tin foil, and let them sit for about 15 minutes before serving.
12. Pour the gravy through a sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing down on all of the vegetables and other particles to extract as many tastes and juices as possible. Warm the gravy in the pan over low heat, skimming off any fat that rises to the top.
13. Pair with your favorite holiday sides and enjoy!