Guests enjoy dinner after a hard days work in the kitchen at the French Country Cooking Class.
Mel et Lavande Glace de Canard
Honey and Lavender Glazed Duck
Ingredients:
3 tsp. dried lavender flowers
1 tbs. fresh thyme
1 ½ tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. whole black peppercorns
1 whole duck
1 cup chicken stock
3 tbs. dry red wine
4 tbs. honey
Salt and Pepper to taste
Method:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees
- Using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, finely grind half of the lavender, thyme, sea salt and peppercorns, set aside.
- Remove excess fat and skin from duck neck and inside cavity. Remove giblets and reserve liver. Thoroughly rinse duck and pat dry with paper towels.
- With a very sharp paring knife, carefully score duck breast in crisscross pattern, making sure to cut through skin and fat only.
- Rub herb mix into outside of duck and inside the cavity. Place liver back inside cavity.
- Put duck onto a rack in roasting pan, breast side up and roast for 2 hours.
- Remove duck from oven and increase oven temperature to 375 degrees.
- Put duck on a platter and pour pan juices into a large glass bowl and spoon off all but 1 tablespoon of clear duck fat.
- Pour pan juices and 1 tablespoon of duck fat back into roasting pan and add chicken stock and wine.
- Return duck to rack in roasting pan and baste with about half of the honey.
- Roast duck for 20 minutes, basting at least once with the pan juices.
- Remove duck from oven and baste with remaining honey and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of lavender flowers and return to oven to roast for 5 minutes.
- Remove duck from oven and let rest. Remove liver from cavity and mash into paste to be served on toast points.
- Pour pan juices into sauce pan, add remaining lavender and salt and pepper to taste.
- Over medium heat, bring juices to a boil, whisking often and cook until sauce is thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Strain into another sauce pan and keep warm.
- Quarter duck for service and add sauce.
Serves 4
Find more recipes from our French Country Cooking Class here.