Name: Roast duck
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 180 min
Yield: serves 6 people
Ingredients: 2 large carrots; 2 onions, peeled; 2 kg duck, free range; 1 tsp dried juniper berries; 2 bay leaves; 2 garlic cloves; 1 tsp orange zest

Roast duck

This is a basic whole roast duck recipe, which is super easy to make. The skin is lovely, crispy and the meat just fall off the bone, tender, juicy and delectable. Celebrating Saint Martin's is a pretty big deal over here in Slovenia. I always like to get at least three free range, organic ducks, one for roasting on Saint Martin's and the other two for preserving. I love to confit the duck legs in fat and eat them during the winter.

Ingredients

Roast duck

2 large carrots

2 onions, peeled

2 kg duck, free range

1 tsp dried juniper berries

2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp orange zest

Tools and equipment

kitchen knife

cutting board

baking tray

METHOD

bake

Preheat the oven to 210 °C / 410 °F. Place the onions cut on quarters and large chunks of carrots in the baking tray. Add juniper berries, bay leaves and 2 cloves of garlic. In a small bowl mix together 1 tbsp of sea salt, pinch of freshly ground black pepper and finely grated orange zest. Pat the duck dry with paper towels. Rub the mixture all over your duck. Place the duck on top of the vegetables and bake at 210 °C / 410 °F for 25 minutes.

Tip

Using a fork, pierce the skin of the duck all over, but don't make holes in the skin.

Don't tie the duck together or it won't bake evenly.
baking

After 20 minutes lower the temperature to 150 °C / 285 °F and bake for additional 55-60 minutes per kg, in our case 1 hour and 50 minutes more. Basting with the reserved fat every 20 minutes.
bake and serve

Increase the temperature back to 210 °C / 410 °F and bake for another 20 - 25 minutes basting every five minutes, so that the duck skin becomes golden and crispy. Enjoy

Tip

Save the remaining duck fat, as it has a lot of flavour and it is great for roasting potatoes or frying eggs.