Duck a l'orange

Remove the lower wings, the neck, the extra fat and the bag of giblets and cut all the duck parts into one and a half inch pieces.

Roughly chop an onion and a couple of carrots. Melt a tablespoon of pork fat in a large saucepan over medium heat and brown the duck parts and vegetables.

Pour off the browning fat, return to the heat and add the beef stock, parsley sprigs, bay leaf, thyme and enough water to cover by half an inch.

Simmer an hour and a half partially covered, skimming throughout; ice cubes in a metal spoon dipped into the liquid lift the fat.

Strain the stock and let it stand so the remaining fat rises to the surface, then skim it off.

Take the orange part of the skin off four oranges in strips about an inch and a half long with a vegetable peeler and cut them into julienne strips.

Simmer the peel strips in about four cups of water 15 minutes, then drain and pat dry.

Season the cavity with half a teaspoon of salt and a little pepper and add a third of the prepared orange peel.

Truss the duck: pass the needle through the lower carcass, back over the drumstick, through the tip of the breastbone and over the second drumstick, then through where the second joint and drumstick meet on each side.

Turn the duck on its breast, fold the wings back akimbo, thread the needle through one wing catching the neck skin on each side, draw the string tight and tie it off.

Prick the skin around the thighs, back and lower breast with a fork and dry the duck thoroughly.

Put the duck in a roasting pan just large enough to hold it and scatter the sliced carrots and whole onion around it. No butter is used.

Brown the duck lightly at 425F in the middle of the oven.

Reduce the oven to 350F, turn the duck onto its side for 30 minutes, then onto the other side, skimming the fat occasionally. A five and a half pound duck takes about an hour and 25 to 30 minutes for medium rare.

Cut the oranges into skinless segments and hold them until needed.

Whisk half a cup of duck stock, a full cup more, two tablespoons of cornstarch and two tablespoons of port together, with no clumps.

Boil three tablespoons of sugar with the red wine vinegar over high heat until it turns to a mahogany brown syrup, then take it off the heat immediately.

Add half a cup of duck stock and simmer a moment to dissolve the caramel, then beat in the stock and cornstarch port mixture and the rest of the orange peel.

Simmer three to four minutes until the sauce is clear and lightly thickened.

After an hour and 15 minutes remove the excess fat from the pan, turn the duck breast up and return it for 15 minutes.

Medium rare is 135 to 140F; this one read 150F, with juices that had a slight rosiness.

Cut the string off, put the duck on a tray and rest it in a turned-off oven with the door ajar.

Remove as much fat as possible from the roasting tin, put it over high heat, add half a cup of Madeira and deglaze, scraping up the fond, then reduce to about two tablespoons.

Strain the reduced cooking juices into the orange sauce and bring it back to a simmer.

Add two and a half tablespoons of Cointreau and a little pinch of lemon juice, then turn off the heat.

Carve the duck: remove the second joints and drumsticks, turn it on its side and cut as many thin slices of breast meat as possible, four to six per side.

Stir an ounce of butter into the orange sauce just before serving. If it has clumped, pass it through a sieve, rinse and dry the orange peels and return them.

Bring the sauce back to a simmer with more duck stock, a little more Cointreau, salt and lemon juice.

Plate the white meat, then the dark, with the orange segments and a couple of orange peel slices on top.