Roast Duck with Potatoes for Shopbop

As far as birds go, duck may just be my favorite kind to cook. It's a bit easier than chicken since the meat has a tendency to stay super flavorful and moist, even if you leave it in the oven for a few minutes longer than you meant to. Unlike chicken, which can dry out really quickly, duck is a bit less temperamental, and the duck fat that comes along with it is pretty unbeatable for roasting potatoes with. This recipe lets you do both at the same time. The delicious fats slowly drip from the bird as you roast it, coating the potatoes, and making them crisp on the outside and wonderfully creamy on the inside. I also appreciate this particular preparation for it's utter simplicity. It reminds me of something you would find being made at a farmhouse in the country.

When one of my favorite retailers, Shopbop, asked me for a favorite holiday recipe, I immediately thought of duck and spent a supremely enjoyable afternoon roasting and writing the recipe. You can find it on their blog HERE and below. xo

Roast Duck with Potatoes
Serve 4, generously
Ingredients:
One 5-6 lb organic duck
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 medium potatoes, peeled

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse the duck, pat it dry very thoroughly with paper towels, and trim off any excess neck skin. Carefully prick the skin all over about 50 times, taking care not to prick the meat underneath. This is to ensure that your duck renders all it's fat properly, giving you a perfectly crisp skin at the end. Rub the olive oil all over the duck, then season the bird inside and out with salt. Add a few grindings of pepper. Place the onion quarters in the cavity of the bird. Tie the legs together with kitchen string.

Put the duck in a large roasting pan or large cast iron skillet breast side up. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan and roast the duck for 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and add the potatoes, nestling them snugly around the bird.

Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Return the roasting pan with the duck and potatoes to the oven. Turn the potatoes every 10 minutes or so. Roast for another 40-55 minutes, until the duck skin is crisp all over and the potatoes are deep golden brown. Duck temperature should read 165 degrees on an instant-read meat thermometer. Transfer duck and potatoes to a platter and season with salt.