Servings: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour and 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2-3 large whole ducks, skin on
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• Fine sea salt, to taste

Poached Pears

• 4 firm Bosc pears
• ½ cup sugar
• Zest of 1 orange
• Juice of 1 orange, about ½ cup
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 whole cloves
• 2 cups dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 small sprig rosemary

A few notes: Use red wine that you wouldn’t mind drinking to poach the pears, but don’t use something too expensive. This recipe is enough to feed four people, with the addition of sides.

Instructions:

1. Take duck out of the refrigerator 1 hour prior to cooking. With a peeler, peel orange zest into strips, being careful not to take too much pith (the bitter white part). In a saucepan that can fit the pears snuggly on their sides, add all poaching ingredients except the pears. Bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

2. Then peel the pears — do not peel pears beforehand because they will quickly turn brown — and add them to the wine mixture on their sides. Simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes, rotating the pears every 5 minutes to evenly expose the flesh to the hot poaching liquid. Pears should be soft, but not mushy and falling apart. Take pears out of the poaching liquid and set aside. Discard solids: zest, cinnamon stick, cloves and rosemary. Continue to simmer the liquid until it reduces into a syrup, stirring often; sauce will continue to thicken as it cools. Stir in a pinch of salt. Return pears to the saucepan, right side up, and set aside to cool.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit; if you have the option of convection baking, use it for more even brownness. Pat ducks dry with paper towels and paint them with melted butter. Season to taste with fine sea salt, including inside the body cavity. Place ducks in a roasting pan, rimmed cookie sheet or cast-iron skillet, breast side up, and roast on the middle rack until internal temperature in the breasts reaches 140 degrees. Allow plenty of room between the ducks for better browning. Take ducks out of the oven, loosely tent with foil and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before quartering.

4. After resting, carve out the duck breasts, legs and thighs and serve on warmed plates. Serve with poached pears and red wine syrup, as well as your favorite sides to complete the meal.