Duck in Orange Sauce, or Anitra All'Arancia: People often associate duck in orange sauce with the French, but it's popular in Italy too, and served as the centerpiece for Pope Giovanni Paolo II's 25th anniversary banquet. Here's a recipe to will serve 6:
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 90 minutes
Ingredients:
- A young duck weighing about 3 1/3 pounds (1.5 k)
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 3 oranges
- An onion
- 3 leaves sage
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon beef or chicken bullion, dissolved in 2 ladles of hot water
- Salt
- Pepper
- Sugar
- Sprigs of parsley
Preparation:
If your butcher hasn't already done so, clean the bird, and then flame it to remove any stray pinfeathers. Chop off the feet, the wingtips, and remove the buttons that are located where the duck's tail joins its body. Chop the duck into equal-sized pieces, rinse them, and pat them dry.
Trim just the orange part of the zest from half of one of the oranges and slice it very finely and chop the onion. Put the duck in a pot with the zest, onion, heart, liver (carefully remove and discard the gall bladder), gizzard (emptied, rinsed, and chopped), and sage leaves. Drizzle the oil over the duck and put it over a moderate flame to brown.
Turn the pieces occasionally, and when they are nicely browned, sprinkle the white wine into the pot. When it has evaporated, add the water into which you have dissolved the bullion cube. Continue simmering until the duck is fork tender. While the duck is cooking, peel two of the oranges (use the one you took the zest from), seed the sections, and remove the membranes from the sections. Crumble the orange pulp. Slice the remaining orange.
When the duck is done remove the pieces onto a warmed plate; keep them warm. Strain the pan juices through a muslin cloth, and if they are overly thick dilute them with a little water. Return the juices to the pan, add the orange pulp and a pinch of sugar if need be, heat through, and pour the sauce over the duck. Garnish with the orange slices and the sprigs of parsley and serve.
Yield: 6 servings duck in orange sauce.
Trim just the orange part of the zest from half of one of the oranges and slice it very finely and chop the onion. Put the duck in a pot with the zest, onion, heart, liver (carefully remove and discard the gall bladder), gizzard (emptied, rinsed, and chopped), and sage leaves. Drizzle the oil over the duck and put it over a moderate flame to brown.
Turn the pieces occasionally, and when they are nicely browned, sprinkle the white wine into the pot. When it has evaporated, add the water into which you have dissolved the bullion cube. Continue simmering until the duck is fork tender. While the duck is cooking, peel two of the oranges (use the one you took the zest from), seed the sections, and remove the membranes from the sections. Crumble the orange pulp. Slice the remaining orange.
When the duck is done remove the pieces onto a warmed plate; keep them warm. Strain the pan juices through a muslin cloth, and if they are overly thick dilute them with a little water. Return the juices to the pan, add the orange pulp and a pinch of sugar if need be, heat through, and pour the sauce over the duck. Garnish with the orange slices and the sprigs of parsley and serve.
Yield: 6 servings duck in orange sauce.
