Lemon-Honey Roast Duck Recipe

With vegetable peeler or paring knife, peel rind of 1 lemon into strips, carefully avoiding peeling off any white pith (scrape any pith from strips, if necessary). Squeeze juice from same lemon; combine with vermouth and strips of rind. Set aside.

With tip of sharp knife, prick skin of duck all over, especially over fatty areas, without piercing meat. Rub inside cavity with garlic and 1/4 tsp/1 mL of the salt. Halve remaining lemon; lightly squeeze juice into cavity, then place both squeezed lemons and bay leaf inside. With kitchen string, tie legs together. Sprinkle skin all over with pepper and remaining salt.

Place duck breast side up on rack in roasting pan; roast in 400F/200C convection oven or 425F/220C conventional oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and pour off fat (reserve for another use) from pan. Reduce heat to 350F/180C for convection oven or 375F/190C for conventional oven; baste duck with some of the vermouth mixture and pour remainder, with rind, into pan. Return pan to oven; continue roasting, basting with pan juices every 15 minutes, for 65 minutes. Brush duck with honey and continue roasting until crispy and roasting is complete, 20 minutes per 1 lb/500 g.

Remove from oven. Remove and discard lemons and bay leaf from cavity; pour cavity juices into roasting pan. Reserving pan juices, plate duck and keep warm.

Meanwhile, in small saucepan over medium-high heat, cook sugar with vinegar until deep golden brown; remove from heat and stir in 2 tbsp/30 mL water.

Skim off and discard fat from roasting pan; place on stove top over medium heat. Pour in stock and bring to boil, scraping brown bits from bottom of pan (if blackened, do not scrape). Strain pan juices into sugar mixture; place over medium-high heat, bring to boil and boil until reduced by half. If desired, thicken by stirring in cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp/10 mL water and simmering for 30 seconds. Serve sauce on side with duck.

Makes 2 to 4 servings.