Honey & Whiskey Glazed Roast Duck

I have made a discovery. It's not like I discovered  new prehistoric remains in my basement walls or anything, but I did discover that roasting a whole duck is amazing. No more complex than roasting a chicken, roasting a whole duck leaves you with tender, juicy duck meat that is completely unbeatable! I also have a thing for crispy skin, and this recipe will deliver lots of crispy skin, with a sweet, salty, spicy glaze. I joke about making sandwiches with crispy skin and mayo, but seriously, that would be totally awesome with the duck skin. just saying.

This roasting a duck recipe starts things off low and slow. After a few hours of slow roasting and rendering, you crank up the oven to a reasonable 425 degrees and crisp up that skin. You get about a cup of rendered  duck fat and crispy skin!! What more could a girl ask for? What to do with duck fat? I use it in the same way I use bacon fat. It is also excellent to rub all over a chicken before you roast it. Don't buy duck very often? Most of us are cooking up whole chickens not ducks, so I do save duck for special occasions like....I think the snow is melting, for real this time!.....or Mother's Day,.....or we need to castrate a pig so please come over friends and help us with that! Whatever the occasion, duck is the answer.

First make the glaze. You'll need:

1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1 Tablespoon tamari
3 Tablespoon whiskey
1 Tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce

Combine all of the ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a simmer, whisking constantly until thick and syrupy. It should be able to coat the back of a spoon. Set this aside for later glazing the duck.

 Prep your duck by removing the innards conveniently placed inside the carcass by your butcher. I set these and the neck aside for making stock. Do a rinse with cold water and pat the duck dry.  Place your duck on a rack, in a roasting pan. By placing it on a rack, the fat can render off of the duck and collect in your pan without the duck sitting in a pool of fat. That isn't a terrible thing, but it can affect the outcome of crispy skin. With a sharp knife, score the skin on the duck's breast. Be careful not to cut too deep. Just cut the fat, not the flesh. Now take your knife and poke your duck all over the place, penetrating only the skin. This will help the fat to render out and produce crispy skin. Are you catching onto my LOVE of crispy skin?. I give my ducks a good sprinkling of smoked sea salt at this point. I like the added flavor of the smoked sea salt, but regular salt is just as well. Now it's time to roast!!

score the skin on the duck's breast 

Place the duck in a 325 degree oven, breast side down, for 1 hour.
Flip the duck over, so it is breast side up and roast for another 1 hour.
Flip the duck over, so it is breast side down, and roast for another 45 minutes.
Crank the oven up to 425 degrees, flip the duck so it is breast side up, and roast for about 10-15 minutes.
Slather the glaze all over the duck and roast another 5-10 minutes.

At this point, you should be able to wiggle the duck thigh and have movement, and you should have crispy skin. If your skin isn't crispy, bake in 5 minute increments until crispy skin is achieved.

Rest, carve, and enjoy!!