Steamed and Roasted Whole Duck

So my mom gave me a whole duck. I love duck, but have never cooked it before. It's a very fatty bird, so I knew I wanted to find a way to extract that excess fat out. Looking around on Food Network's site, I came across some recipes that made duck broth, steamed it, or pricked the skin with a fork as a way to do just that. I decided to combine a couple of techniques, and let's just say my husband who wasn't crazy about duck fell in love with the end result.

I first removed any excess skin I could find on the duck, especially around the neck and cavity. Next I pricked the duck's skin with a fork, careful to not prick its meat. I created a spice mixture comprised of Smoky BBQ rub I had in the pantry, sugar, and salt. I used equal parts sweet and salty because I didn't want one to overpower the other. I wanted a nice balance. I rubbed the spice mixture all over the duck and its cavity. Also stuffed some garlic cloves in its cavity. I added about an inch of water to a roasting pan, and placed the duck on a v-rack in the pan. Covered the pan with aluminum foil and steamed it over 2 burners on medium heat for 45 mins.

Next, I started on my glaze. The duck came with an Orange Sauce packet which I decided to use. I also added some soy sauce to it, and equal parts vinegar and honey. Brought it to a boil and had it reduce down to a nice glaze. After my duck was done steaming, I basted the duck with the glaze I've prepared, and roasted it in the oven for an hr at 375 degrees F. Every 15 mins or so I re-basted the duck, just to make sure it was still juicy. And it was beautiful! I wish I took a picture but we dove right in. The duck was so juicy. My husband loved the glaze and mentioned that he wish he had some on the side for dipping. He loved that it was sweet and kind of tangy. Some other ideas I had for the dish was stuffing some orange rinds in the duck (if I didn't have the Orange Sauce packet). And maybe not basting the duck so close to the end, to get an even crispier skin.