Delicious Duck

So a while ago we went to an Amish market, and there I got a duck. A lovely fat bird, which I decided to cook following Alex Guarnaschelli's recipe. There was one significant modification: no green peppercorns, since I'm not a fan. So here's a photo essay documenting my duck exploits.

First, I heated some water with honey, soy sauce, and rosemary twigs. I also added a splash of raspberry vinegar and some ground red pepper flakes, dry thyme, and some tarragon, because I believe it goes with everything.

Once the water was nice and hot, I dunked in the bird:

Let it heat up and absorb the flavors, while basting, for about a minute.

Then I took the duck out, let it sit for about half and hour, and patted it dry. Arranged it on the rack in a roasting pan (mine is pretty shallow, and the deeper one would probably be less precarious when the fat starts seriously rendering), breast down. Cooked at 400F for 25 minutes:

I then took some of the rendered fat and transferred it to a cup for later, and turned the duck over. Cooked for an additional hour, until the duck crisped and the fat rendered.

While the duck was cooking, I made some lentils, and set them aside:

Using the reserved duck fat, I then sauteed some pearl onions:

And after the onions were done, I mixed them and the delicious duck fat with the lentils:

Next, I turned my attention to the glaze: I used Marsala wine, raspberry vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and more rosemary to make the glaze. Cooked the mix until it was thick and delicious, and spread it over the basted duck as soon as it came out of the oven. Served with lentil and onion side dish:

It was delicious!