Pasture Raised Whole Roasting Duck

The Circle farm duck is my favorited all the time. The duck meat is tender and good for different dishes. The bones make good soup. The price of the duck is expensive. But consider the quality of the meat, flavor and clean meat, it is worth.

This duck is so flavorful and a perfect size! I've ordered this duck way too many times. Pasture raised animals are >>>> I cook the duck for 4 hours at 325 degrees and rotate/flip over every 30 minutes. I just season with salt and sprigs of rosemary and it is a family hit, my 3 year old and my husband (and me ofc) guzzle this duck down every single time. You can save all the duck fat that comes out of this for future cooking or take all the meat off the bones and let it sit in the duck fat to soak it back in for the most delicious thing you'll ever taste.

I really like separating the breasts from the hind quarters and cooking them separately and differently. First I remove the breasts and hind quarters from the carcus. I then score the breast skin and presear the skin side for 2-3 minutes and the meat side for one minuted in a hot skillet. I do not add any oil or fat, this renders from the skin. I add some garlic cloves and thyme to the fat rendered before flipping and searin the meat side. I bag them up with the spices and souse vide for 1.5 hours at 131 F. I then sear the skin in the same skillet at medium high until the skin is golden brown. I plate and serve with my favorite vegetable and a cherry/thyme reduction sauce.
I prepare the hind quarters by souse viding for 16 hours including salt, orange peal, garlic cloves, thyme sprigs and a bay leaf at 158 F. When complete they can rest for a few hours. Before eating I turn the broiler on high and place the duck hindquarters on the top rack in a skillet and broil for 5 to 10 minutes until the skin is a beautiful, crisp brown. I do this on a bed of orange slices.

As you can see this makes two meals for two people and it is absolutely the best duck you will ever have!

Whole Roasting Duck 4-5 LB, Pasture Raised

This duck was so amazingly good. Tender and super tasty, delicately flavorful. Amazing! I combined a few recipes: The method in Cook's Illustrated by Lan Lam where you simmer the back side and then switch to roasting; the associated recipe for Whole Roast Ducks with Cherry Sauce for the general instructions on cutting slits through the fat, salting, and roasting temperatures (I dutifully lowered the oven temperature per Circle C's instruction to cook low and slow, and used a meat thermometer that stays in place during roasting to follow the recipe), and used just simmered maple syrup and vinegar vs. the full sauce in the recipe for glaze; and paired the duck with Spicy Pickled Raisins from a Duck Confit recipe by Dawn Perry on Bon Appetit. The duck is just so very good! Somehow mine magically showed up a week in advance and with organs & giblets, which is AMAZING; being able to make sautéed duck heart on toast, duck gizzard salad, and a mini duck liver pate are wonderful additional small treats!