A Recipe from Simple French Cookery (1958)

About the Recipe

On an impulse at the grocery store with the fancy butcher shop, my husband and I decided to buy a duck. And from the moment I bought that duck, my husband started going on about how he wanted duck… a l’orange! So, I asked him to find a recipe and told him I’d make it happen.

This recipe is (as the cookbook title would suggest) very simple to make. Admittedly, I basted every 10 minutes, not every 5, both to give me a little bit of respite as the cook, as well as to allow the bird to actually cook. I’ve had too many Thanksgivings with enthusiastic basters make the turkey take 3 hours longer than it should.

I also used homemade turkey stock, leftover from simmering my Thanksgiving bird. If you have the opportunity to make your own stock, I highly recommend it. Otherwise, any good broth will probably work well.

Other than that, I followed the recipe to the letter. And my husband was all too happy to carve it up!

About the Book

This is another (earlier) Peter Pauper book, and one of many many others. These little books are great additions to any cookbook shelf. The recipes are exactly as they promise – simple to follow – and the illustrations are just beautiful. If you see one, snag it!

The Recipe!

Ingredients:

Whole duck

Orange Sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups stock
1/2 t salt
1/2 cup orange juice
2 T Sherry
1 orange rind, grated

Directions:

Dress, clean, and truss duck. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on rack in roasting pan; bake in 450* oven 12-15 minutes to the pound. Baste every 5 minutes in orange juice. A 6-pound duck will serve 4.

Orange Sauce:
Brown butter, add flour and salt, and stir until well browned. Add stock gradually and just before serving add orange juice, sherry, and rind. Heat thoroughly and pour over duck.