Fat is flavor, they say, and duck has a lot of fat. Luckily, though, it is mostly concentrated under the skin, so by scoring or pricking the skin well and flipping the duck over at intervals, that fat should drip right down into your pan, crisping the skin as it goes.
Roast Duck with Cumin and Lavendar
Servings
Ingredients
- 1 Grow & Behold whole duck
- 2 tablespoons dried lavender
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup honey
Instructions
- Defrost bird in fridge. Take out of the fridge 30 minutes before you plan to roast, to allow to come to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- Prick skin all over with a pushpin or thumbtack. (This will allow the extra fat to render out as the duck cooks.)
- Rub with dried lavender, cumin, and black pepper.
- Bake in a deep dish or Dutch Oven, uncovered, for 2-4 hours. Every 45 minutes, remove the pot from the oven, carefully drain off the fat*, and turn the bird. You’ll get about 1/3-1/2 cup fat each hour. Once you notice that most of the fat is done rendering (about 2-4 hours later), proceed to the next step, or serve.
- Optional: Rub duck all over with honey and turn up heat to 450°F. Roast for 20 minutes or until skin is crispy.
- Serve hot or cold.
- Recipe inspired by Yitzchok Bernstein
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HI Miriam, We’re so glad this recipe worked for you! Yes — the key is to get as much of that fat out of there (to save for other purposes) while keeping the meat nice and tender. So glad you enjoyed it. You can use the same technique and mix up the spices if you like. Enjoy!
This method for cooking the duck used in this recipe made it so easy to prepare. I’ve had a few horrible experiences cooking duck in the past, mostly due to cooking the duck at high heat, so by the time the fat has rendered, the meat is horribly overcooked. This method of rendering the fat at a lower temperature, then finishing it at a high temp worked great. Thanks for a great recipe!