When the weather turns chilly, a dinner of perfectly cooked duck, with crispy skin, rosy succulent meat, and a balanced fruity sauce, is something to dream about. This duck dish delivers all these things. It calls for whole ducks which can be found fresh or frozen in most supermarkets for a price per pound not much more than chicken.
The breast and leg meat are removed from the carcass and marinated. The carcass is made into stock, strained, and boiled down into a rich sauce. When it's time to cook the duck, the legs are baked in the oven until fully cooked, tender, and crispy, and the breasts are sautéed on top of the stove until the skin crisps but the meat is still rosy. If you are not confident cutting up the duck yourself, buy a fresh duck from a butcher, who will cut it for you. Don't let the many steps scare you off. The result is well worth it, and you can do much of the work the day ahead.
The day before, or the morning of serving day: Cut up the duck and marinate it; make the duck stock (3 hours); and strain the stock and boil it down to make the sauce (1 hour).
**20 minutes before serving:**Begin cooking the duck breasts.
45 minutes before serving: Begin cooking the duck legs; reheat the sauce.
5 minutes before serving: Allow the duck to rest, then slice and serve.
