Asian Honey Duck

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We just love duck and I bought one this weekend.  I usually do my Dad’s recipe https://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/08/17/marinated-wild-duck/  when I cook duck.  But my husband didn’t much feel like grilling tonight, so I roasted my duck in the oven with an Asian-style marinade instead.  It came out absolutely delicious!  I served it with my Chipotle “Sweet Potatoes” https://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/09/29/chipotle-sweet-potatoes/  and simmered kale with caramelized onion.  A GREAT combination of flavors, I might add.

I have a box set of Boyajian infused oils http://www.boyajianinc.com/ and used a few drops each of the Chile Oil and Garlic Oil in this marinade.  I love their oils and flavorings!  But I’m not sure Boyajian still makes this particular box set of oils.  They have changed the oils in their mini set now, it appears. I can’t find the set I have for ordering on their site anymore.  It’s pictured only. So I took the liberty of substituting fresh garlic and chile paste into the recipe and nutritional info calculations to make it easier.   Who knows, it might even taste better than the infused oils I used.

This recipe is suitable for all phases of Atkins (provided you substitute imitation honey) and acceptable for Paleo-Primal followers as written.  Check out the nutritional stats on this baby!  Very nutritious, duck is!

I suspect this delicious marinade would be good also on chicken or pork ribs.

INGREDIENTS:

1   5 lb. duck

1/4 c. chicken stock, preferably homemade

2 T. honey

2 T. coconut aminos (or low sodium soy sauce)

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1/4 tsp. hot chile paste

½ clove minced garlic

DIRECTIONS:  In a 9×13 plastic container or glass dish large enough to hold a butterflied duck, mix the marinade ingredients.   Pull organs out of duck and reserve for baking alongside the duck, or for other uses.  Butterfly the duck by cutting it up the back bone with kitchen shears (you can leave the bird whole if you prefer). Place the duck in the marinade pan and baste him all over with a basting brush.  Baste or turn duck several times in the marinade during the 1 hour marinating time.  Be sure to set him in the refrigerator while he is marinating.

15 minutes before he has marinated the full hour, preheat your oven to 450º.  You may want to lower the top rack of your oven one notch so the duck won’t sit too high in the oven and scorch while roasting.

Place a meat roasting rack in a large roasting pan big enough to hold the rack and the duck and him not hang over the pan on the sides.  Fill the bottom of the pan with about 1″ water.  Place the duck, skin side up, on the roasting rack and if the bird doesn’t totally clear the water, pour a little water out of the pan.  I like to cut off the long excess piece of skin from around the neck area, cut it into two pieces lengthwise and set aside for now.  You will use these in 30 minutes.

Pop duck into preheated 450º oven for 30 minutes, which should help crisp up the skin (you may want to lower the top rack of your oven for more even browning and no over-browning of the skin. Remove pan from oven carefully and bast duck again. Reduce heat to 350º.  Wrap the wing tips with the neck skin you cut off earlier.  This will keep them from burning during cooking (the wing is my favorite piece of a duck, turkey or chicken and I don’t want it scorched!).  Place the pan back in oven and cook the duck for about 2 hours longer at 350º (smaller ducks will take less time).  I basted the duck several times during cooking, using up all the marinade.  Test the duck breast and leg quarters with a meat thermometer at 1 hour 30 minutes and at 15 minute intervals thereafter.  The USDA says for safety, you should cook duck to a minimum of internal temp of 165º and it should not be oozing red juice when you pierce him with a meat thermometer.  I cook my duck to 170º usually.  The breast meat will be the slightest pink at the center and the leg quarters should not be pink when done.    Remove duck pan from oven when the bird is cooked to your satisfaction and let it sit for 10 minutes before attempting to cut/slice.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:   Makes 4 adult servings (possibly 5 if light eaters).  1/4 duck contains:

682 calories

52 g  fat

9.5 g  carbs, .4 g fiber, 9.4 g  NET CARBS (if using real honey)

.83 g  carbs, .3 g  fiber, .53 g  NET CARBS (if using imitation honey)

37 g  protein

697 mg sodium

425 mg potassium

17% RDA Vitamin A, 25% B6, 27% B12, 9% E, 50% copper, 67% iron, 10% magnesium, 59% niacin, 44% phosphorous, 49% riboflavin, 70% selenium, 31% thiamin, 45% zinc

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