Roast duck with orange, cloves and herbs

Ingredients:

1 duck, around 2.5 kg in weight, with giblets

2 oranges

a handful of cloves

bay leaves 

rosemary

2 onions

For the gravy: take giblets, place in a pan with one of the onions (peeled and quartered), some bay leaves, rosemary, and a quarter of one orange.  Cover with water, and simmer gently whilst the rest is cooking.

Peel and quarter the other onion, stuff into the duck together with the remainder of the first orange, 4 or 5 cloves, 4 or so bay leaves, and some rosemary. 

Pierce the skin of the duck slightly in several places, only piercing through the fatty layers but not right into the meat (to ensure the juices don't escape).  Put cloves into the pierce sites.  Slice the other orange and place over the top of the duck, together with a few bay leaves and some rosemary.

Roast the duck.  I started it off on a high temperature for 20 mins or so.  At that stage, take out of the oven and pour some of the excess fat into a separate pan for roast potatoes.  Return to the oven and cook for a further period, according to the weight.  For the final 30 mins of cooking, remove the orange and herbs from the top of the duck, baste, sprinkle a little salt over to aid crisping, and return to the oven with the temperature turned up to high roast.

On the Rayburn the temperatures are not terribly precise as this picture shows, but I have got used to it.  This picture shows 'low roast' temperature.  Whack it up so the red hand is nearer to the s or even the t on 'Roast', but keep and eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn.

Once done, take out of oven, and place the duck onto a meat board or serving dish.  Drain off the fat from the pan (keep this-it is the best fat for cooking roast veg, especially potatoes).

Make the gravy from the giblet stock (strained) and browning from the bottom of the duck roasting pan. I added a hefty splosh of cider, and some vignotti (grape must, utterly delicious, a recent discovery which I ordered online from getoily.