Roast Duck with Hoisin-Cilantro Glaze

Lordy me, do I love duck. Went to the grocery store yesterday and a little duckling called to me so I made this incredibly easy, delicious recipe. Of course my kids were freaked out by the notion of eating duck thinking that I was somehow destroying their childhood memories of bath time and rubber duckies. They treated the kitchen like a CSI scene and dared not enter until all traces of the mahogany-glazed fowl had disappeared. For those who have never prepared duck know this, it's a fat-fest in the oven, popping and splattering all over the place. You should place your oven rack a little lower than the middle rung and keep the roasting pan in the center for best chances of fat not winding up all over the oven walls. And, while duck doesn't require basting, you need to remove the fat that accumulates in the pan during the cooking process. Serve this Roast Duck with Hoisin-Cilantro Glaze recipe at your next dinner party accompanied by a simple vegetable stir fry like chopped pencil asparagus, Shitake mushrooms, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and a sprinkling of sea salt.

• 1 cup Hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 (5 lb.) whole duck

Thaw duck overnight in refrigerator or in cold water. Allow duck to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before prep and roasting for best results of evenly cooked meat.

Preheat oven to 400F. Mix together Hoisin and vinegar; set aside.

Remove plastic wrapping on duck. Remove neck, liver, and gizzards from body cavity.
Cut duck along the breast bone to open it up but don't cut through the backbone. Rinse duck, thoroughly cleaning skin and underside, and pat dry.

Place duck flat, skin side up, in a roasting pan and prick skin with a fork trying not to pierce the meat underneath. Sprinkle salt all over duck. Lather duck with Hoisin mixture over skin and on underside. Scatter cilantro over top and rub it into the skin to release the herb's oils.

Cook duck for about 1 hour, removing fat from pan as it accumulates every 15 minutes using a baster. Duck is done when skin is a gorgeous mahogany and a fork inserted into breast yields juice that is light rosy pink for medium rare or clear for more well done meat.

Carve duck into 2 servings and for each one: Cut off leg and thigh as one piece, cut off wing, remove breast meat as a whole from bone and then slice on the diagonal. Arrange pieces on individual plates and serve warm.

Makes 2 servings