Name: Duck à l’Orange
Yield: Makes 4 main-course servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier; 2 tablespoons balsamic, sherry, or red wine vinegar, or more to taste; ¾ teaspoon sugar; 1 cup concentrated duck broth, ¼ cup homemade duck glaze, or 2 tablespoons commercial glaze; 12 kumquats or 1 juicing orange; Salt and pepper; 1 cup water; 4 Pekin (Long Island) duck breasts or 2 mullard breasts (1½ to 2 pounds total); Orange wedges (optional; see Cutting Perfect Orange Wedges); 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

Preparation info

Makes
4
main-course servings

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Duck Cookbook

By James Peterson

Published 2003

About

While it may sound like a cliché, duck has a natural affinity for oranges and, for that matter, for most things sweet. Traditional recipes for duck à l’orange call for bitter Seville oranges that provide just the right note of dissonance to match their sweetness. When I can’t find them—which is most of the time—I look for kumquats; if I can’t find kumquats, I just use a regular juicing orange. The Grand Marnier also adds a hint of bitter orange.

To make duck à l’orange—or duck à la