Two weekends ago, my friend Hillary and I spent a day at a bunch of food-related places outside DC. At the Chinese supermarket, we saw duck for so cheap that we couldn’t pass it up, and decided to get one and cook it together the following week. The duck came out to something like $10, which was great until it came time to cook it, and the thing was plucked but otherwise intact. We got some hot duck-cleaning tips from the internet, got our hands dirty, and then were prepped to actually cook!

Ingredients:

• 1 duck, about 4-5 pounds
• 1 lemon, zested, juiced
• 1 lemon, cut into thin slices
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 cups frozen cherries
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• salt

Hillary has better knife skills than I.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the duck, butter, and salt. Simmer this mixture until the cherries are soft.

Rinse the duck and then pat dry and place in a roasting dish. Prick the duck all over with a fork. Rub the butter all over the skin, then sprinkle lightly with salt. Pour half of the cherry-lemon mixture over it and place the dish in the oven.

Bake 1 1/2 hours, basting occasionally with a large spoon, then check for doneness.

Google knows all!

Remove to a serving platter for several minutes to rest, then serve with the other half of the cherry sauce.

I really liked the sauce, and kind of thought we should have put the extra on ice cream, although that idea wasn’t met with a lot of enthusiasm. We served with some bread and crispy smashed potatoes. (Boil potatoes until soft, rub with olive oil, sprinkle on some salt and whatever herbs you like, lightly press until about half crushed, then bake until crispy.)

Duck with Cherries and Lemon

Adapted (in part because of poor reading comprehension skills) from The Inn at the Crossroads, the official Game of Thrones food blog.

• 1 duck, about 4-5 pounds
• 1 lemon, zested, juiced
• 1 lemon, cut into thin slices
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 cups frozen cherries
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a saucepan, combine all the ingredients except the duck, butter, and salt. Simmer this mixture until the cherries are soft.

Rinse the duck and then pat dry and place in a roasting dish. Prick the duck all over with a fork. Rub the butter all over the skin, then sprinkle lightly with salt. Pour half of the cherry-lemon mixture over it and place the dish in the oven. Bake 1 1/2 hours, basting occasionally with a large spoon, then check for doneness.

Remove to a serving platter for several minutes to rest, then serve with the other half of the cherry sauce.