Making duck

I have to tell you that I hate duck! I have been making it for years but never even bother to taste it. I just ask the kids and dh if it tastes okay.

Start out with a frozen or fresh duck from the grocery store. Have some salt, black or white pepper, orange juice, cooking oil (like vege or canola, no olive), and a cooking bag. It is one of those Reynold's cooking bag. Large size, not turkey.

Preheat oven according to the cooking bag directions. Clean out your sink. Have some salt and a little pepper ready in a cup or bowl. I use kosher salt. I would say about 3 or 4 tablespoons. I never measure. I just put the salt in my hand and dump 3 of them into a cup. Have a cup of oil and a two cups of orange juice ready in a cup or bowl. Your hands will full of duck blood, so have the containers ready.

Open up the wrapping. Take the innards out. Keep it in there if you eat the stuff. There might also be orange sauce in there. If there is, then stick that in a bowl and put in the corner of your fridge.

Use some cold water and rinse the duck. Take the oil and smooth it all over the duck. Take the salt and pepper and spread it all over the duck including the inside of the bugger. Put the duck inside the cooking bag (breast side up) in a shallow pan. Poke a couple of air holes at top of bag. Pour the orange juice over the duck. Close bag with that little plastic tie-strap or whatever it is called.

Bake the sucker for the amount of time stated in the cooking bag directions. Use a thermometer to measure the temp. I always just do it for 1/2 hour longer and it turns out all soft and yummy (according to the duck lovers). If you want crispy skin, take the cooking bag off 1/2 hour before it is done. Aluminum foil wings if you don't like that too dark. Family doesn't care about crispy skin. Let sit 10 minutes for it to finish cooking and juices to settle in. If you have the duck sauce, then heat according to directions.

If you do not, then take the duck stuff in the pan. Pour it into a saucepan. Take some of the fat out, if you can. Use a spoon. Paper towel can also help after you get out a lot of the fat out. of it. A trick that I learned at cooking school is to lay a piece of paper towel flat into the soup or sauce, it will pick up the floating fat. You can add a little white wine here, if you like that sort of thing. Heat the juice and drippings until it starts to evaporate and thicken. Pour that over the duck.