My son has requested duck for the upcoming holidays. I will be serving about 6 people. I know nothing about buying or preparing it. Any tried and true recipes? How and where to buy it? Perhaps Whole Foods? I don't think I've seen it in our grocery stores.

Tucker--what area of the country do you live in? That would help people to know where to tell you to look.

I see you are from the Chattanooga, Tn. area... I can't find anything around you...
BUT you can get them online and these are pretty good ducks:
http://www.dartagnan.com/51351/Whole-Duck.html

Fresh Market on Gunbarrel Road if that is near you.
http://www.thefreshmarket.com/stores/store_locationsDetail.aspx?StoreID=17

Ok, yes , I will check out the Fresh Market. Now for recipes?

I like roasted duck with apple dressing & Bing Cherry Sauce...
An Orange Sauce is good also, but for me... it's Bing Cherry for the best!

Ingredients
1 (4 pound) whole duck
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoons chopped onion
5 stalks celery, chopped
3 cups peeled, cored and chopped apple
3 cups cornbread crumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions
1. Rinse duck and pat dry; rub with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning.
2. Melt butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and celery in butter until tender. In a medium bowl, combine with apple and cornbread crumbs. Mix together to make dressing (if necessary, add a little water to moisten).
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4. Fill the duck's cavity with dressing, and sew shut with kitchen twine. Rub outside of bird lightly with olive oil, and place in a shallow roasting pan or 9x13 inch baking dish, on a shallow rack.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 80 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees F (80 degrees C.)
6. Serve with Bing Cherry Sauce (optional)

Note:
I always prick the skin of the duck all over with a fork before cooking, so some of the fat drains...

for Bing Cherry Sauce:
1 lb bing cherrys (drained)
3/4 cup red currant jelly
2 tbsps brandy

1. Melt currant jelly in a small skillet.
2. Add cherries and brandy.
3. Heat slowly until the mixture boils, stirring often.
4. Serve warm.

Be aware...
a 4 pound duck is about enough for two people...
You can usually figure about 1/2 a duck Per Person (Pekin, or Long Island Duck)...
They are mostly breast meat, there's very little on the legs...
UNLESS you get a Muscovy Duck ... They have much larger breasts and legs...
But Pekin Ducks are mostly what you will find in the US...

I'm lucky, being from Eastern Long Island...
we have a few duck farms within a few miles... and we can get them fresh...
Otherwise, they will be frozen...
That may be one reason why you don't see them where you live...
They will be in the frozen food section... not on the poultry counter!

This is tried and true... and DELICIOUS!

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Rub duck liberally inside and out with Lemon Salt and Pepper.

Cut up 1 onion, 1 lemon and 1 orange and put into the cavity of the duck.

Roast breast side down for 2.5 hours. Turn oven up to 500 degrees or the highest your oven will go. Turn breast side up and roast for another 15 mins until brown.

[color:"blue"]SAUCE[/color]- heat all the following until the sugar melts, do NOT boil:
1 C orange juice
2 C brown sugar
1 sliced orange
2 oz drambuie
2 oz triple sec
2 oz brandy

Peconic-
Thanks so much for this tip- I had no idea how much to buy. Both recipes look great. I will use yours, as I have a family member who doesn't like alcohol in recipes even though it cooks out. I will let you know the results. I can't believe this was solved so quickly! Thank you all.

Tucker... contrary to popular belief... cooking does not really take out the alcohol...


[color:"blue"]Alcohol in finished food

A study by a team of researchers at the University of Idaho, Washington State University,
and the US Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Data Laboratory calculated the percentage of alcohol remaining in a dish based on various cooking methods.

The results are as follows:
alcohol added to boiling liquid & removed from heat - 85% alcohol retained
alcohol flamed - 75% alcohol retained
no heat, stored overnight - 70% alcohol retained
baked, 25 minutes, alcohol not stirred into mixture - 45%[/color]

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_with_alcohol

As usual you are a fountain of knowledge! Thanks!

When I was a kid on LI... back in the 50's-60's Bing Cherry Sauce was the Sauce that Duck always came with...
In the last 30 years or so, you don't find that anymore in restaurans...
Now it's always Orange Sauce...
The cherries just go so well with Duck!
for a real treat, serve POPOVERS with your duck!
The basic recipe for popovers is easy... Here's Ina Garten's recipe...
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/popovers-recipe/index.html

There's plenty of time to make them too...
as your duck(s) should rest 30-60 minutes after coming out of the oven...
before cutting up or slicing the meat...
Duck should be served semi-warm... not HOT!
OH Gosh! I'm so jealous!
Now I want Duck for Christmas! BUT my family has decided on Prime Rib for this year!

Oh gosh! My family loves popovers. I will have to make those too! I usually use a Stonewall Kitchens mix. Would have never thought to let the duck rest so long.

The last time we cooked duck in the oven, the whole house smelled of duck for weeks!

We said never again, and no we didn't burn it.

Unless you don't like duck. What's wrong with that? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> I've never had duck, but if my house smelled like turkey or pasta sauce or cookies for weeks I'd be ok with that because I love them! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Tonguea.gif" alt="" />

On the other hand, the last time I made homemade liver dog treats, it stunk up the house for ages and it smelled HORRRRIBLE!!!
And gunked up the blades of my food processor. Gross.

Of course we like duck, or we would not have cooked it in the first place.

It smells wonderful while it is cooking.

So how long did the smell of those dog liver treats remainin the house? After a while, any persistent smell enclosed in a house gets annoying.

But 3, 4, or 5 days later, and two weeks later...
it just starts smelling rancid and definately unappealing.

You have to clean the oven right after cooking a duck...
otherwise the fat that spatters inside the oven will go rancid fairly quickly...
also, try cooking it in a roasting bag... that will cut down on most of the fat spatter...

Assuming you are right, then everyone should be WARNED before cooking duck in the oven, plan on thouroghly cleaning the oven within 24 hours of cooking duck.

Might be more work than most are willing to do.

I'd rather just order it at Mario's Bistro in SXM.
I don't have to clean the oven there.

Cleaning the oven?
I just hit the "clean oven" button on the control panel...
and if you have a manual clean oven...
just use a cooking bag for duck...

Okay, but no where did I see you previously warn anyone to use a cooking bag, or if not their house would stink ! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Sorry, it has never been an issue when I have made duck...
I never really thought about it before...
as a matter of fact, you are the only person I have ever heard that has had that problem...
I'm just suggesting possible solutions for you... (I have never used a bag for duck myself)...
as far as cleaning the oven, I do that regularly no matter what I cook... so it's not an issue for me...
all it is is hitting one button anyway... probably been 25-30 years since I last had a manual clean oven...

and as far as warning people...
I don't warn people to clean the frying pan after cooking fish or it will stink either!

Geeze, all I did was post a recipe that someone requested!
It's a recipes forum, not a housekeeping forum... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Tucker... some good ideas for crispy duck here

Understand you want to go alcohol free... here is another recipe for roasting a whole duck that I've made using a recipe from Ina Garten. If you have not cooked a duck before you may want to read this blog the best way to roast a duck with crispy skin

[color:"blue"]ROAST DUCK[/color]

Ingredients

2 (5 to 5 1/2 pounds each) ducks, innards and wing tips removed
6 quarts chicken broth
Kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Unwrap the ducks and allow them to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. With a fork, prick the skin without piercing the meat. This will allow the fat to drain off while the ducks cook.

Meanwhile, in a very large stock pot which can hold the 2 ducks, heat the chicken broth with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt until it boils. Add the ducks very carefully and bring the stock back to a boil. If there isn't enough stock to cover the ducks, add the hottest tap water to cover. If the ducks float to the top, place a plate on top to keep them immersed. When the stock comes back to a boil, lower the heat and simmer the ducks in the stock for 45 minutes.

When the ducks are finished simmering, skim off enough duck fat from the top of the stock to pour a film on the bottom of a 14 by 18 by 3-inch roasting pan. This will keep the ducks from sticking when they roast. Carefully take the ducks out of the stock, holding them over the pot to drain. Place them in the roasting pan, pat the skin dry with paper towels, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt and the pepper. If you have time, allow the ducks to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the skin to dry.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. (Be sure your oven is very clean or it will smoke!) Roast the ducks for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to rest, covered with aluminum foil, for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

This is very similar from Food and Wine... check it out, it uses a Hair Dryer to dry off the duck! It's name is,

[color:"blue"]"Hair Dryer Duck"![/color] <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

INGREDIENTS

Two 5-pound Long Island ducks
1 1/2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
12 whole cloves
4 bay leaves
3 juniper berries
1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 tablespoons good gin or brandy
2 garlic cloves

DIRECTIONS
Rinse the ducks inside and out. Pull off any loose clumps of fat. Pat the ducks dry, inside and out.
In a spice mill, grind the peppercorns with the cloves, bay leaves, juniper berries, salt and thyme until very fine. Pour into a small bowl and stir in the brown sugar and gin.
Rub the spice mixture all over the inside and outside of each duck. Put a garlic clove in each cavity, then put each duck in a snug-fitting sturdy plastic bad and close securely. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours; whenever you open the refrigerator, press the bags to work the spices into the skin.
Remove the ducks from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature, about 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350°. Remove the ducks from the bags and pat any moist places with a paper towel. Set a V-shaped roasting rack or a vertical roasting rack in each of 2 small roasting pans. [color:"red"]Get out your hair dryer (the higher the wattage, the better), wipe it clean and using very high heat, begin to dry the ducks; you can stick the nozzle right into the cavities. The drying time will vary but shouldn't be more than 10 to 15 minutes per duck. Be sure to dry the ducks on all sides, inside and out. Take special care to dry and creased areas.[/color]Transfer the ducks to the racks, breasts up and roast them for 30 minutes. Reverse the pans front to back and roast for 30 minutes more.
Increase the oven temperature to 400°. Prick any fatty parts of the duck skin with a needle, but do not pierce the flesh. If using V-shaped racks, turn the ducks over; you can do this with tongs or by grabbing the hot ducks with a kitchen towel and flipping them. Roast for 30 minutes, then reverse the pans front to back and roast for 15 to 30 minutes longer, or until the ducks are golden brown and most of the fat has melted away. Remove from the oven and let cool for 1 to 3 hours.

Using poultry shears or a heavy cleaver, cut each duck into 12 to 14 serving pieces, taking care that each piece has its own covering of the delicious browned skin. Serve at room temperature.

A lot of fat equals plenty of odors. Try goose. You'll have more than ever. That said who doesn't like the smell of bacon fat??? Duck is moist and great flavored, goose has a bit too much for me. Around the holidays one can find each in the freezer section and always by request.

You can remove all cooking odors by setting out a bowl of white vinegar. I use it everytime I fry something (which is very rare) Hey y'all it works <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />!
South Carolina (not logged in)

Good tip... I'll try it next time I have a fish fry!

BigJim... Yeah! Goose for sure has a LOT of fat!
I have cooked three or four of them in my life!
Yummmy, but a lot of work and create a lot of mess in the oven!
My grandmother used to cook most of the Geese we got...
for a goose, I wouldn't use a baking bag... it would just sit in all that fat while cooking!
what I always did for cooking goose was use a covered roasting pan, with the goose on a rack, cooking above the dripping fat...
I have one like this:

interesting thread. got lots of good advice, including some martha stewart 101 techniques in cleaning. please post your results for curious minds who want to know the outcome.