This duck has just about all the fat rendered out for later use, so its crispy on the outside but the meat is still moist and succulent. As an added bonus you will have a jar of duck fat to roast your veges or fry with afterwards. This is a longer slower roast than most, which allows the fat to escape, you will need to be on hand to turn it over each hour for four hours. But its worth it. I use an orange oil glaze right at the end to give a traditional and yummy orangeyness, but this glaze is without the traditional but not needed sugar, which makes it a low carb version. It is served with an orange parsley dressing for even more orangeyness, total orange heaven.Ingredients.

• 1 duck.
• 2 oranges.
• a large bunch of parsley.
• A few sprigs of fresh rosemary.
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil.
• 1 teaspoon of pure orange oil if you have it, optional.
  

  

  

  Remove any items from the cavity, mine had the neck inside, reserve this for stock making later. Then cut away the extra skin and fat from both ends of the bird. Cut these bits into pieces and place them around the edge of your roasting pan. You will need a rack to lift the bird above the rendered fat that will accumulate in the pan. There is useful fat on these extra bits and by roasting them along with the bird you will get the extra fat for later use, plus the skin on these bits will be crispy and a cooks treat if you, like me, are so inclined.

  

  

  

  Next cut one of the oranges into segments and stuff these along with the rosemary into the cavity, tuck the wings underneath and truss the legs to contain the stuffing. Don’t use plastic string!  The oranges in the cavity will keep the breast moist during the long roast and infuse a gentle orange rosemary essence.

  

  

Next you need to use a sharp knife to cut slashes in the breast through the skin and fat right down to the meat, but don’t actually cut into the meat. Sprinkle with some salt and rub into the skin and slashes. This then goes on the rack and into the oven at 140C fan. Total cooking time is 4 hours plus resting time. But put the timer on for one hour.

After one hour take the bird out and prick with a knife all over the fatty parts, particularly around the legs where it is not scored, this helps the fat release out. Then turn the bird upside down and return to the oven for another hour.

Then remove the duck from the oven and again prick it all over with the tip of a knife to help release the fat. Turn it breast side up  and return it to the oven for a third hour.

Once again remove it from the oven, prick all over with the knife, last chance to get into those stubborn areas of thick fat, turn it over and return to the oven for the fourth hour.During the fourth hour make the simple glaze, zest the second orange and add this to about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the teaspoon of orange oil if you are using it and mix together.

After the four hours turn the oven up to 200c fan and take the duck out of the oven, lift the rack out of the tray for a few minutes and pour all the accumulated fat into a jug.  There should be quite a bit, spoon out the crispy skin, scoff those down if you like or give them to someone who loves crispy skin. The fat can be poured into a jar and refrigerated for later use. Duck fat has a very high burn point and is delicious so is ideal for roasting and frying. Turn the bird breast side up one last time return the rack to the roasting pan and brush on the glaze, once the oven has reached 200C pop the duck back in the oven for a final crisping, this will only need 5-10 minutes, keep an eye on it.

Make the orange dressing by removing the stalks from the parsley and add to a mini food processor along with the juice from the second orange, the rest of the olive oil and some salt and pepper, blitz until sauce like.When the duck is browned and crispy remove it from the oven and leave it to rest for about 10 minutes.We had our duck served with grilled courgettes and scallopini. The carcus was reserved along with the neck to make some lovely duck bone broth.The fat is super useful for roasting vegetables.The skin is crispy and orangey and pretty much all of the fat is rendered out. A great recipe for people that think duck is too fatty. This dish is very low in carbs.