This roast duck with clementines yields unthinkably crisp skin and a tender, orange-glazed duck that’s lightly spiced, meltingly tender and perfectly complemented by a sweetly tart clementine pan sauce.
The key to the shatteringly crisp skin is air-drying the duck for 48 hours in the fridge, so this dish takes some advance planning, but the actual making of the duck couldn’t be easier. And the end result is well worth the wait.
Put the 120g of sugar in a pan. Make an amber caramel (about 5 minutes), then deglaze with vinegar and reduce for 5 minutes over low heat, until a syrupy consistency is obtained.
Put in the clementine juice and let reduce to ¾, then pour in the chicken stock and let reduce for about 10 minutes while skimming. The sauce should have a somewhat syrupy consistency.
Preheat the oven to 180 °
Dry brown the almonds in a non-stick pan for a few minutes. Sprinkle 1 tablespoons of powdered sugar and leave to caramelize for 2 minutes
Transfer to a board covered with parchment paper and let cool, then remove the paper and roughly crush.
Crisscross the skin of the duck breasts with a knife. Salt and pepper the flesh. Sprinkle with crushed caramelized almonds over the flesh of 2 duck breasts. Cover each duck breast with another duck breast. Tie them up in roasts. Cook them for about 20 minutes, depending on the desired cooking.
Take them out of the oven, cover them with aluminum foil and let stand 5-10 minutes
Meanwhile, peel the clementines, detach the quarters. Heat the butter in a pan and brown the clementine quarters with the rosemary for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper.
Slice the duck breast roasts and serve with the seared clementines and clementine sauce.
