• 1½ tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 ducks, about 5 pounds each, necks and wing tips removed, excess fat removed, and rendered if desired (see Note 3)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 24 pearl onions
• 3 tablespoons butter (optional)
• 2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
• 24 pitted prunes, or more if you love them
• 2 cups port, preferably Ficklin or Quady
• ⅔ cup Duck or Chicken Stock, reduced to ⅓ cup
• ¼ cup fresh orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Preheat the oven to 500°F. Make a paste with a mortar and pestle of the garlic, cinnamon, and lemon juice; rub it in the cavities of the ducks. Place the ducks on racks in shallow roasting pans. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper and roast until tender, about 1 hour. Let stand until cool enough to handle.

Meanwhile, peel the onions and trim the root ends carefully, leaving the ends intact. Cut an X in each root end so that the onions don’t telescope when cooked. Simmer the onions in a large pot of salted water until tender but not mushy, 5 to 7 minutes; drain. If you like, sauté them in the butter and sugar until glazed to a rich brown color.

Put the prunes in a small saucepan, add ½ cup port, and heat to simmering over medium heat. Remove the prunes from the heat and let stand until plump, about 10 minutes.

Pour the remaining port into a small saucepan. Boil over medium heat until reduced to ½ cup. Add the reduced stock, the orange juice and zest, and remaining ¼ teaspoon cinnamon. Simmer several minutes and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the prunes in port and the onions.

Cut the ducks into quarters and warm in a 400°F oven about 4 minutes. Heat the sauce to simmering. Arrange 2 duck quarters on each of 4 serving plates and spoon the sauce over top.