Duck à l’orange

The Prawn Cocktail years describes this as “possibly the best example of a dish that ‘just isn’t done any more, dear!’” It’s true, I can’t remember when I last saw it out in the wild on a restaurant menu. I only have dim recollections of having ever eaten it, and they aren’t some of my fondest memories. I love duck, I really do, but slather it with overly-sweet, sickly sauce, and I’m much less keen. The preamble to the recipe in the book goes on at great lengths about how this dish has been ruined over the years, so perhaps this will prove to be a better than usual version.

To start, I have to prepare my duck. This involves stabbing it repeatedly with a small sharp knife and then pouring boiling water over it. Then, I’m supposed to hang the duck to dry. Well, I haven’t got anywhere sensible to hang it, and anyway, it’s way too warm today for me to want to leave it hanging around somewhere unrefrigerated for hours – 20˚C, I checked. I mop it dry with kitchen paper and put it on a plate back in the fridge.

Later that day, I take it out and check on it. The skin hasn’t dried out as much as it ought, but it’s not too bad. That will have to do.

I rub the skin with salt and stuff the duck with black pepper, thyme, onion and orange wedges and then put it in the oven.

While that’s cooking, I make the sauce. Heat some duck fat (OK, I used goose – it was what I happened to have) in a pan and fry bacon until crisp. Then add the duck neck bone and wing tips (the recipe also calls for the gizzard here, but I didn’t have that) and cook those. Finally, some vegetables – the usual trio of onion, celery and carrot.

Next, I add some cognac, Grand Marnier and Madeira, and boil and reduce. Then chicken stock, orange juice and rindless marmalade. The sauce is simmered for half an hour and then strained.

Finally, the strained sauce is reduced, arrowroot added to thicken it a little and then some lemon juice.

To finish, I blanch some sliced orange zest and add to the sauce.

The recipe suggests carving the duck, laying the slices on a plate and decorating with sprigs of watercress. Ah, forget that, I was after a hearty dinner. I carved the duck at the table, and served it with creamy mashed potatoes and sous-vide asparagus and carrot.

And it was delicious. Fabulous. Astoundingly good. When I started, I thought this one might be a decent recipe, but I wasn’t prepared for just how good this was going to be. The sauce, of course, was the key thing here. Beautifully flavoured, just the right amount of orange, the barest hint of sweetness, absolutely divine. I’d never cooked this recipe before, but it’s suddenly leaped into place as one of my favourite recipes in this book.