Duck Dinner with Crispy Potatoes |

Name: Duck Dinner with Crispy Potatoes
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 3 h 15 min
Ingredients: 1 whole duck, about 2 to 2.5 kg; 12.5 ml – 1 tbs Chinese 5 Spice; 12.5 ml – 1 tbs Robertson’s spice; 12.5 ml – 1 tbs herb and garlic spice; 5 ml – 1 tsp turmeric; 5 ml – 1 tbs ginger and garlic paste; 1 to 1.5 kg potatoes, washed and cut into chunks; Salt, to taste; Black pepper, to taste

Description

This is one of those dinners where the duck does double duty, because all that lovely fat dripping onto the potatoes turns them golden and ridiculously flavourful. The long, gentle roast keeps the meat tender, while a final uncovered roast gives the skin a chance to crisp up properly.

Ingredients

Units Scale

Duck

1 whole duck, about 2 to 2.5 kg
12.5 ml - 1 tbs Chinese 5 Spice
12.5 ml - 1 tbs Robertson's spice
12.5 ml - 1 tbs herb and garlic spice
5 ml - 1 tsp turmeric
5 ml - 1 tbs ginger and garlic paste

Potatoes

1 to 1.5 kg potatoes, washed and cut into chunks
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste

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Instructions

Pat the whole duck dry inside and out with paper towels. The drier the skin, the better your chances of getting it nicely browned later. If there’s a large flap of excess fat around the cavity, trim a little of it off, but don’t remove all the fat.
Mix 1 tbs Chinese 5 Spice, 1 tbs Robertson’s spice, 1 tbs herb and garlic spice, 1 tsp turmeric, and 1 tbs ginger and garlic paste into a thick paste.
Rub it all over the duck, inside and out, getting into the legs and breast as evenly as you can.
Place 1 to 1.5 kg washed and cut potatoes in a large roasting tray.
Season the potatoes with salt and black pepper, to taste. Keep the pieces fairly similar in size so they cook evenly.
Place a roasting rack over the potatoes and sit the seasoned duck on top.
The duck needs to be raised above the potatoes so the fat can drip down rather than leaving the potatoes sitting in a pool of liquid.
Roast the duck and potatoes uncovered at 350⁰F (180⁰C) for 30 minutes. This gets the roasting process going and starts rendering the duck fat.
Cover the duck and roasting tray loosely with foil.
Reduce the oven to 300⁰F (150⁰C) and continue roasting for about 2 hours. Cooking time will depend on the size of your duck, so don’t rely on the clock alone.
Remove the foil for the final 20 to 30 minutes and increase the oven to 400⁰F (200⁰C).
Spoon some of the rendered duck fat over the potatoes and turn them carefully so they brown evenly. Roast until the duck skin is deeply browned and the potatoes are crisp around the edges.
Transfer the duck to a board and let it rest for about 15 minutes before carving. Give the potatoes a final turn in the tray while the duck rests. There’ll be plenty of flavourful fat left in there, so don’t waste it.

Notes

Prepared, tried, and tested by Irene