Recipe - Roast Duck With Orange & Lemon Sauce

This low-carb recipe is fancy enough for a holiday feast - spice up your Thanksgiving meal this year with duck instead of turkey - or just a special dinner at home with your significant other! The richness of the duck is tempered with tangy citrus flavors, while the coriander and soy sauce add a touch of an Asian flair, without being overpowering.

This recipe is fairly advanced and requires a lot of steps, but will yield an absolutely perfect roasted duck.

Roasted Duck With Orange-Lemon Sauce
(Serves: 4-6)

Roasted Duck (Photo credit: Robert Banh)

Ingredients:

1 (5 to 6 lb) duck (reserve neck and any gizzards)
salt and black pepper
1 navel orange, one half cut into wedges, one half juiced
1 lemon, one half cut into wedges, one half juiced
2 cups water
2 Tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp almond flour

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Remove neck and gizzards from cavity of duck, set aside, and wash and pat duck totally dry.
3. With a sharp knife, prick the duck skin all over, but don't go into the meat.
4. Season the duck inside with salt and pepper, then put the orange wedges and lemon wedges inside.
5. In a sturdy roasting pan with a rack, pour in the water and coriander seeds, add the neck and gizzards, then put duck on the rack, sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover duck with foil, and set on stovetop burner on high until water in roasting pan comes to a boil.
6. Take roasting pan off burner and set it immediately into the preheated oven at 325 degrees and roast for 1 hour.
7. Remove from oven, uncover, and take duck out of roasting pan and set aside.
8. Turn oven up to 350 degrees.
9. Pour the juices from the roasting pan through a strainer and into a bowl; set aside.
10. Put the duck back on the rack in the roasting pan and again, prick it with a sharp knife through the skin all over. (Do Not cover with foil). Roast at 350 degrees for 1 hour. 
11. After the hour, remove the roasting pan with duck from the oven and turn the oven up to 400 degrees.
12. Transfer the duck to a large baking sheet with short sides to catch any cooking juices and put the duck in the 400 degree oven and continue roasting for 45 to 50 minutes or until the skin is crispy and the meat is tender.
13. While the duck is browning, put the roasting pan (without rack now) on stovetop with burner on medium-high heat. Add the orange juice and lemon juice and bring pan drippings to a boil, stirring, for 1 minute.
14. Take the bowl of strained juices, skim off the fat, and pour this liquid into the roasting pan, add soy sauce and continue boiling and stirring for 1 minute more.
15. Transfer this liquid into a saucepan and put over medium-low heat and bring to a simmer; this will form your sauce.
16. To thicken the sauce, mash together the butter and flour in a small heat-resistant bowl, then add about 1/4 cup of the sauce liquid from the pan to the butter-flour paste, and stir until dissolved. Add this mixture into the saucepan, whisking as you add, and continue simmering over low heat, whisking frequently until the sauce is thickened to your liking, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Let cool slightly, taste, and season with salt and pepper if desired.
17. Put duck on cutting board or platter and let rest for 10 minutes.
18. Slice and serve with the citrus sauce drizzled over the top of each slice.
19. This size duck will serve about 4 to 6 people.  Roast 2 separate ducks to serve more and double the sauce recipe.