"Roast duck with orange sauce", also known as "canard à l'orange", is a classic French dish that combines the rich flavor of duck with the sweet and tangy taste of oranges. This dish, made famous by the renowned chef Julia Child, has captured the hearts of food lovers worldwide with its elegant presentation and delectable flavors. If you're looking to impress your dinner guests or simply indulge in a culinary masterpiece, preparing a roast duck with orange sauce is an experience you won't want to miss. In this comprehensive guide, we'll take you through the steps of creating this iconic dish, ensuring that you achieve perfect results every time.
Check out the recipes below so you can choose the best recipe for yourself!
CLASSIC FRENCH DUCK A L'ORANGE
This is an adaptation of Julia Child's recipe for French duck a l'orange, a dish that is a classic for a reason. Use fat ducks for this, either wild or domesticated. A small, fat goose is another option.
Provided by Hank Shaw
Categories Main Course
Time 2h
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- Use a needle or sharp knife point to pierce the skin of the fat ducks all over, taking care to not pierce the meat itself; go in at an angle. This helps the fat render out of the bird. Salt the ducks well and preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Put the ducks in an ovenproof pan. I rest them on celery leaves to prop them above the level of the pan; this helps them crisp better. If you want, surround the duck with some root vegetables. Roast for 90 minutes.
- Take the pan out and increase the heat to 425°F. When it hits this temperature, put the birds back in the oven and roast until the skin is crispy, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, boil the vinegar and sugar in a small pot until it turns brown. Pour in the stock little by little, stirring all the while. Set aside.
- Shave the peel off the oranges, grating some fine and keeping the peel of 2 oranges in large pieces. Juice 2 oranges. Cut segments from the other 2 oranges. Here is a tutorial on how to do that.
- When the ducks are ready, remove them from the oven and let them rest on a cutting board.
- Finish the sauce. Bring it to a simmer, then add about 1/2 cup of orange juice and the large bits of peel. Simmer 5 minutes. Whisk together a little of the sauce with the starch, and, when it's mixed well, stir it into the saucepot to thicken. Add the Grand Marnier and enough salt and orange bitters to taste. Swirl in the butter one tablespoon at a time.
- To serve, carve the duck and arrange on plates. Give everyone some orange supremes and pour over the sauce. Garnish with the grated zest, and serve with good bread, mashed potatoes or celery root, or polenta.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 980 kcal, Carbohydrate 31 g, Protein 26 g, Fat 81 g, SaturatedFat 29 g, Cholesterol 160 mg, Sodium 410 mg, Fiber 3 g, Sugar 26 g, TransFat 1 g, ServingSize 1 serving
DUCK A L'ORANGE
Until recently, we had always thought of duck à l'orange as a tired cliché of the 1960s, so it was a surprise to find out how delightful this old recipe actually is. We have reduced the original quantity of sugar and caramelized it (along with the aromatic vegetables which balance out the sweetness) for a rich sauce with layers of flavor. One thing that hasn't changed: Cooking a whole duck still feels wonderfully extravagant.
Categories Citrus Duck Herb Roast Orange White Wine Gourmet
Yield Makes 4 servings
Number Of Ingredients 27
Steps:
- Roast duck:
- Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 475°F.
- Stir together salt, coriander, cumin, and pepper. Pat duck dry and sprinkle inside and out with spice mixture. Cut 1 half of orange into quarters and put in duck cavity with thyme, marjoram, parsley, and 4 onion wedges.
- Squeeze juice from remaining half of orange and stir together with wine and stock. Set aside.
- Spread remaining 4 onion wedges in roasting pan with carrot and celery, then place duck on top of vegetables and roast 30 minutes.
- Pour wine mixture into roasting pan and reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Continue to roast duck until thermometer inserted into a thigh (close to but not touching bone) registers 170°F, 1 to 1 1/4 hours more. Turn on broiler and broil duck 3 to 4 inches from heat until top is golden brown, about 3 minutes.
- Tilt duck to drain juices from cavity into pan and transfer duck to a cutting board, reserving juices in pan. Let duck stand 15 minutes.
- Make sauce:
- While duck roasts, cook sugar in a dry 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar melts into a deep golden caramel. Add orange juice, vinegar, and salt (use caution; mixture will bubble and steam vigorously) and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramel is dissolved. Remove syrup from heat.
- Discard vegetables from roasting pan and pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve into a 1-quart glass measure or bowl, then skim off and discard fat. Add enough stock to pan juices to total 1 cup liquid.
- Stir together butter and flour to form a beurre manié. Bring pan juices to a simmer in a 1- to 2-quart heavy saucepan, then add beurre manié, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Add orange syrup and zest and simmer, whisking occasionally, until sauce is thickened slightly and zest is tender, about 5 minutes. Serve with duck.
- Available at D'Artagnan (800-327-8246).
ROAST DUCK WITH ORANGE SAUCE - CANARD A L' ORANGE JULIA CHILD
It was near my husband's birthday when a dear friend gave me two ducklings. Michael loves duck, so I asked him how he wanted them fixed. This is my adaptation of Julia Child's recipe for Duck a l'Orange. The ducklings were a perfect one serving size, 15 ounces, and 17 ounces. The recipe that I had, said that a 5 pound duck would take 1 hour and 30 minutes. Since ours were just about a pound each, they only took 25 minutes. Thank you, Jenny!
Provided by Sweetiebarbara
Categories Whole Duck
Time 3h
Yield 2 small ducklings, 2 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 21
Steps:
- Start the stock for the sauce well in advance.
- Brown duck parts with carrot and onion in oil. (or brown carrot and onion with gleaned duck fat).
- Add bullion and water.
- Simmer with herbs and reduce to 2 cups.
- Skim fat, any scum, strain, and set aside, or refrigerate until needed.
- To begin the sauce, bring water to simmer while preparing orange peel.
- The peel is for both the roasting duck, and the sauce. This also, needs to be done in advance.
- Peel oranges, making sure that the strips are only the orange colored part, not the bitter white.
- Julienne into strips about 1/8" or less by 1 1/2 ".
- Simmer in water 6 minutes, drain, rinse in cold water, dry, and set aside.
- Peel orange segments, put in covered container, and set aside, or refrigerate.
- Prepare duck by trimming loose fat, making sure all feathers are gone, and remove wishbone from breast (optional).
- Prick skin to allow fat to escape, and to baste the duck during the cooking.
- Season cavity of ducks with salt and pepper, and place 1/3 of orange peel and 1/3 of orange segments inside.
- The small ducklings will take about 25 to 30 minutes to roast, so you might want to continue the sauce at this point and preheat the oven to 450°F.
- In a saucepan, blend sugar and vinegar over low heat to dissolve.
- Boil rapidly until mixture begins to caramelize.
- Lower heat to simmer, add half the duck stock, and stir until mixture is no longer caramelized.
- Remove from heat.
- Add remaining stock, blended cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of the port, remaining orange peel, and all but a few orange segments (saved for garnish).
- Simmer for 3-4 minutes, correct seasoning, and keep warm. Sauce should be clear and slightly thickened.
- Place ducklings on rack in small roasting pan, breast side up and place in oven.
- Roast 5 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F, and turn on side, and place back in oven.
- Continue to roast and turn, until duck is breast up. Roast 25 to 30 minutes total.
- When ducklings are done (juice will be rosy clear) place on warmed individual platters and keep warm.
- Finish sauce by removing fat from roasting pan and deglaze with port.
- Add to sauce.
- Bring sauce to simmer, add orange liqueur, and correct seasoning with lemon juice if sauce seems too sweet.
- Remove sauce from heat, swirl in butter and spoon some over ducks and put remainder in a warmed sauceboat.
- Garnish ducks with remaining orange segments, place rice and peas on platters and serve.
DUCK A L'ORANGE
Traditional recipes for Duck a l'Orange call for bitter Seville oranges to provide the right note of dissonance to match the recipe's sweetness. When I can't find Seville oranges, I look for kumquats; if I can't find kumquats, I use a regular juicing orange. Grand Marnier also adds a hint of bitter orange. Making Duck a l'Orange is a useful project because once you can understand how it's made, you can improvise virtually any French duck sauce using the same method.
Provided by Food Network
Categories main-dish
Time 55m
Yield 2 servings
Number Of Ingredients 10
Steps:
- Use a sharp knife to score the skin side of the duck breasts in 2 directions, about 20 slashes per direction. Season the breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Reserve in the refrigerator.
- Cut off 1 end so the orange can stand on the cutting board, and slice off 2 (2-inch) strips of zest. Cut the zest into fine julienne, then blanch the zest for 1 minute in the cup of boiling water. Juice the orange, strain the juice into a saucepan, and boil it until it's reduced to about 1 tablespoon.
- If you're using the kumquats instead, cut the round ends off the kumquats and eat or discard them. Set the kumquats on 1 end and use a sharp paring knife to trim the zest off three of them. Cut all the kumquats in half lengthwise, and working over a strainer set in a non-reactive bowl, remove the pulp with a small spoon. Push the pulp against the strainer to extract the juice. (Don't worry if you end up with only a tablespoon or 2.) Place the kumquat zests on a cutting board and slice them into fine julienne. Bring the 1/2 cup water to a boil over high heat, blanch the zests for 1 minute, then drain them in a strainer.
- If you're using concentrated duck broth, reduce it in a small saucepan to about 2 tablespoons until it's lightly syrupy.
- Heat a saute pan over medium to high heat and saute the duck breasts, skin side down, 8 to 10 minutes for the Pekin duck breasts and 12 to 18 minutes for the mallard. Turn the breasts over, adjust the heat to high, and cook for 1 minute for the Pekin duck and 2 minutes for the mallard.
- Pour the fat out of the pan ¿ if it hasn't burned, save it for omelets ¿ and deglaze the pan with the reduced kumquats or orange juice. Use a whisk to add the glaze. Add the sugar, Grand Marnier, kumquat or orange zest, and vinegar, and simmer the sauce for about 30 seconds to cook off the alcohol. At this point, adjust the thickness of the sauce ¿ its consistency is up to you, but many cooks make their sauces too thick; add 1 or 2 teaspoons water to thin it or simmer the sauce for a moment to reduce and thicken it. Whisk in the cold butter, keeping the pan and whisk moving until all the butter melts. (Don't let it sit without whisking or the butter will separate.) Season, to taste, with the pepper, and if necessary, a few more drops of vinegar.
- Slice the breasts crosswise, arrange the slices on individual heated plates, and spoon the sauce over the breasts. Serve hot, with orange wedges if desired.
Tips:
- To ensure even cooking, prick the duck skin with a fork before roasting.
- Roast the duck breast-side up for the first 30 minutes, then flip it over and continue roasting until the internal temperature reaches 165°F (74°C).
- Allow the duck to rest for 15-20 minutes before carving to allow the juices to redistribute.
- For a crispier skin, increase the oven temperature to 450°F (230°C) for the last 10 minutes of roasting.
- To make the orange sauce, use a combination of fresh orange juice and Grand Marnier for a more intense flavor.
- Reduce the orange sauce until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
Conclusion:
Roast duck with orange sauce is a classic French dish that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. The combination of crispy skin, tender meat, and flavorful orange sauce makes this dish a perfect choice for a special occasion meal. With careful preparation and attention to detail, you can create a restaurant-quality roast duck with orange sauce in your own home. Remember to follow the tips provided in this article to ensure that your roast duck turns out perfectly. Bon appétit!
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