Duck Glazed With Honey And Lavender (or Herbes De Provence)

Total Time: 4 hrs Preparation Time: 1 hr 30 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 4 teaspoons packed fresh lavender blossoms (use the same proportions of herbes de provence, if you can't find lavender) or 3 teaspoons dried lavender flowers (use the same proportions of herbes de provence, if you can't find lavender)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leave
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorn
• 1 (5 1/2 lb) duck (thawed, if frozen)
• 1 cup canned low sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons dry red wine
• 4 tablespoons honey (i use clover, but if you can find lavender or orange flower honey, it would add additional flavor)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
• 2 using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, finely grind half of the lavender (or herbes de provence), thyme, sea salt, and peppercorns.
• 3 set aside the ground herb rub mix.
• 4 remove excess fat and skin from duck neck and inside cavity.
• 5 remove giblets (reserve liver only).
• 6 thoroughly rinse duck and pat dry with paper towels.
• 7 with very sharp paring knife, carefully score duck breast in criss-cross pattern, making sure to cut through skin and fat only (do not cut into the flesh or"meat" of the duck).
• 8 rub herb mix into both inside the cavity and the outside of the duck.
• 9 place liver back into the prepared duck cavity.
• 10 put duck onto rack inside a roasting pan, breast side up and roast for 2 hours (do not baste during initial roasting).
• 11 remove duck from oven and increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees fahrenheit.
• 12 put the duck on a platter and carefully pour pan juices into large glass measuring cup.
• 13 spoon off all but about 1 tablespoon of the clear duck fat into a glass dish and refrigerate to use in other dishes as a sauté medium, for example.
• 14 pour pan juices and the 1 tablespoon of the duck fat back to the roasting pan and add the chicken broth and wine.
• 15 put duck back on the rack in the roasting pan and brush with about half of the honey.
• 16 roast the duck for about 20 minutes, basting at least once with the pan juice/broth/wine mixture.
• 17 remove the duck from the oven and brush with the rest of the honey, then sprinkle the duck about 1 teaspoon of the lavender or herbes de provence and return to the oven to roast about 5 minutes more.
• 18 depending on the size of the duck, it may take a bit longer; it is ready to remove from the oven when a meat thermometer inserted into the innermost duck thigh registers 180 degrees fahrenheit.
• 19 when duck is done, remove from the oven and put it on a platter to rest.
• 20 remove the liver from the duck cavity and mash finely in a small bowl to be used on crackers or small toasted baguette slices.
• 21 pour pan juices from the roaster into a saucepan, making sure to scrape up browned bits.
• 22 add the remaining lavender or herbes de provence to the saucepan, along with salt and pepper to taste and place over medium heat.
• 23 bring the juices to a boil, whisking often, and cook until the sauce is thickened and coats the back of a spoon.
• 24 taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
• 25 transfer the sauce to a bowl and serve with sliced duck at the table.