Honey Roasted Duck Legs Recipes

HONEY-ROASTED DUCK LEGS

Steps:

• To make the glaze, in a small saucepan, combine the garlic, ginger, five-spice powder, salt, honey, light and dark soy sauces, and wine. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. When the bubble action ceases, pour the glaze through a fine-mesh sieve place over a medium-sized bowl, pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Let the glaze cool completely.
• Select a large, shallow bowl or deep plate that fits in your steamer tray. Add the salt, wine, and ginger juice and stir to dissolve the salt. Add the duck legs and use your fingers to coat the duck legs well with the marinade. Arrange the duck legs so that there is minimal overlap, to ensure even cooking. Put the bowl in the steamer tray and set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.
• Fill the steamer pan halfway with water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add the steamer tray, cover, and steam the duck for 25 minutes. The skin will pull back from the flesh, and cooking juices will collect in the bowl. Transfer the duck legs to a plate and discard the cooking juices. (The legs may be cooled, wrapped in plastic wrap, and refrigerated overnight. Bring to room temperature before roasting.)
• Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425°F. To promote heat circulation and allow the fat to drip away from the duck, place a flat roasting rack on a foil-lined baking sheet. Put the duck, skin side up, on the rack, spacing the legs as far apart from one another as possible. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the skin is crisp and lightly golden. Turn on the exhaust fan as the duck roasts, as the dripping fat can cause smoke. If more than 2 tablespoons of fat accumulates in the pan during roasting, remove the duck from the rack, make a spout in one corner of the foil, and pour off the fat. Then quickly return the duck to the rack and continue roasting.
• When the duck is ready, using tongs, lift each leg from the rack, roll it in the glaze to coat evenly, and hold it above the bowl to allow excess glaze to drip off. Return the duck to the rack, skin side up. Roast the legs for 5 minutes and then again coat them with the glaze. Roast for 3 to 5 minutes longer, or until the glaze richly colors the duck. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.
• After glazing the duck legs the second time, return the remaining glaze to the small saucepan and add the hoisin sauce to make a dipping sauce. Warm over medium heat, adding a spoonful or two of water if needed to balance out the flavor. Pour into a small serving bowl.
• Using a heavy cleaver, chop the legs through the bone into bite-sized pieces. Or, slice the meat off the bone. Arrange the duck on 2 plates or a platter and serve with the sauce.

ROAST DUCK WITH BALSAMIC VINEGAR & HONEY GLAZE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Remove (thawed) duck from bag and rinse under cold water.
• Generously season duck cavity and skin with salt and pepper. Tie legs together with string.
• Roast duck, breast side up, for 20 minutes. Remove duck from oven.
• Rake skin numerous times with a sharp meat fork being careful not to pierce meat; return to oven. Continue to roast for 1 hour and 10 minutes. While roasting, frequently baste duck with juices from bottom of roasting pan.
• While duck is roasting, combine 10 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, honey and pepper in small saucepan. Over high heat, bring to a boil. Boil until mixture starts to thicken. Stir constantly until mixture is very thick and reduced to about 3 tablespoons. Remove from heat; add remaining balsamic and red wine vinegar. Keep warm until duck is cooked. (If glaze cools and becomes too thick, warm over low heat, stirring constantly.).
• When duck is cooked, remove from oven and dry skin with paper towels. Brush duck with a thick coat of warm glaze; place in oven for 1 minute. Remove from oven and serve immediately. Garnish with fresh herbs.

HONEY-ROAST CONFIT OF DUCK

Steps:

• Mix together the thyme, rosemary, garlic and peppercorns with 2 tbsp flaky sea salt. Tip half into a large baking dish, top with the duck legs, then sprinkle over the remaining salt and massage well into the duck. Cover with cling film and chill for 24 hrs.
• Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Take the duck legs out of the dish, wipe off the salt mixture with kitchen paper, then set aside.
• Melt the duck fat in a flameproof casserole dish until just bubbling. Add the bay leaves and duck legs, and bring to a gentle simmer. The legs should be completely covered, so top up with olive oil if needed. Transfer the dish to the oven and cook for 2 hrs 30 mins.
• To check whether the duck is cooked, insert a skewer into the thickest part of a leg - it should go in easily. Leave the duck to cool in the fat. Can now be chilled for up to 2 weeks. While the duck cools, make the Puy lentils & pancetta (see Goes well with, right).
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Lift the duck legs from the dish, scrape off the fat and place, skin-side up, in a shallow roasting tin.
• Spoon 1 tbsp honey over each duck leg and roast for 25-30 mins until the skin is browned and sticky. Serve with the Puy lentils & pancetta.

ROAST LEMON-PEPPER DUCK WITH HONEY LEMON SAUCE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine lemon zest, 1 teaspoon minced thyme, black pepper and salt. Using your fingers, loosen the skins of the ducks over the breastbones, legs and thighs. Tuck the lemon-pepper mixture evenly beneath the skin, covering each breast, leg and thigh. Tie legs together with kitchen twine.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Heat a roasting pan in the oven for 10 minutes. Place the prepared ducks on a rack in the roasting pan and cook 1 hour 10 minutes. Remove ducks from pan, and bring to room temperature. Quarter the ducks, trimming off any excess fat. Cover, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
• To prepare the sauce, place the roasting pan over medium-high heat, and add butter, shallots, garlic and jalapeno. Saute until softened, about 2 minutes. Add the thyme, sage and rosemary, and saute 1 minute more. Add honey and lemon juice. Make a paste of flour and 1 tablespoon water; add to pan. Add veal stock or chicken broth, and reduce until sauce lightly coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Sauce may be cooled and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
• To serve, preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small pan over medium heat, reheat sauce. Heat an ovenproof skillet over high heat, and add duck pieces skin side down. Cook over high heat until skin begins to sizzle, about 1 minute. Reduce heat to low, and crisp duck skin 5 to 7 minutes. Cover with a lid or foil, and reheat in oven for 10 minutes. Transfer to a warm platter, and serve with sauce.

DUCK WITH HONEY, SOY, AND GINGER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Use a sharp knife to score across the duck breasts 4 times through the skin and fat but just barely to the meat. Rub the skin with salt, cayenne, and black pepper.
• Preheat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Lay the breasts in the skillet skin-side down and fry until the skin is brown and crisp, about 5 minutes. Use a spoon to carefully discard any excess fat from the bottom of the skillet. Turn the breasts over and cook for 1 minute.
• Place the skillet into the preheated oven and roast until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the breasts reach 160 degrees F (71 degrees C) for well done, or the breasts reach desired doneness.
• Remove the duck breasts from the skillet and cover with foil. Set aside to rest. Pour off excess fat from the skillet. Place the stock, honey, soy sauce, rice wine, ginger, tomato sauce, chili powder, and lime juice in the skillet. Whisk the sauce over high heat, bring to a boil and cook until the sauce thickens, about 2 minutes. Slice the duck breasts thinly, arrange on serving plates, and pour the sauce over the top.

HONEY AND CHILI ROASTED DUCK

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 375°F.
• Coat a shallow roasting pan, and rack, with non-stick cooking spray.
• In a small bowl, combine the wine, honey, lemon juice, mustard and chili paste. Set aside.
• Rinse the duck and cut down the center of the back, to butterfly. Pat dry. Pierce skin several times with a metal skewer. (this helps drain fat as it cooks). Season with some of the salt and pepper.
• Place the celery, onion and carrot in the bottom of the roasting pan. Place rack over the vegetables and arrange the duck on the rack, skin side up. Place in oven.
• After 20 minutes, baste with the honey-chili mixture. Roast for a total of 1 1/2 to 2 hours, basting every 15 minutes.
• Remove the duck from the oven, place on a platter and keep warm.
• Combine the orange juice and cornstarch. Set aside.
• Strain the pan juices into a saucepan. Discard vegetables.
• Bring to a simmer, adding any leftover baste. Thicken with the cornstarch mixture and season with salt and pepper.
• Cut duck into pieces (legs, thighs, breasts and wings).
• Serve the duck with the sauce on the side.