Sweet Chili and Pineapple Glazed Duck with Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes

Duck is not something our family eats often.
But when we do, it's a treat.  

4-5 lbs whole duck
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne

2/3 cup sweet chili sauce (found in Asian food store)
3 tbsps finely chopped pineapple (fresh or canned)
3 tbsps balsamic vinegar

Rinse duck in cold water and salt the cavity. Toss in the crushed garlic and tie the legs together with kitchen string. Score through the fat on the breast side and pierce other fatty areas with a fork. Mix cumin, paprika and cayenne together and rub over the outside of the bird. Refrigerate a few hours.

Set the duck on the rack of a broiler pan, breast side up to start. Using a broiler pan is essential as alot of fat will drip down into the bottom part of the pan. Put the duck in the oven at 350 F for 1 hour.

Remove from oven and pour out the fat. Save the fat, don't throw it away! You'll see why later.

Turn the duck, breast side down, and return to the oven for 30 minutes. 

Mix chili sauce, pineapple and balsamic together.

Again, remove duck from oven, pour out even more fat, brush or spoon the glaze all over the duck and put it back into the oven, breast side up, for 45 minutes.

Looking good now!

Ok....last time....glaze again, and again breast side up for 30-45 minutes.
Let it rest 15 minutes before carving.

Now, about that duck fat. I was able to save about 1 1/4 cups.

I poured it into an ice cube tray and froze them for later use, like this:

Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes

1  1/2 lbs potatoes, cubed
1/4 cup duck fat
salt to taste

Toss together and roast at 425 F 30 minutes, toss and 30 minutes more.

I read somewhere that duck fat is one of the healthiest animal fats.  Now I'm no expert on that, but I do know what tastes good. And these Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes taste good!

Other uses for duck fat....roasted vegetables, sautéed mushrooms, yorkshire pudding.