Roasted Duck à l'orange

Christmas is on its way... This means roasted duck time - my favourite German dish ever :)! Starting from November onward, you would start seeing duck or goose in the menu when you go to restaurants. The Germans usually eat roasted duck or goose on Christmas Eve, in some parts of Germany they also eat fried carp, but since I am not that fond of fish, I have never tried this other specialty. Last year I made traditional roasted duck with potato dumplings and red cabbage. For this year I wanted to make something slightly different, that's why I decided to use the homemade orange marmalade that my MIL gave me to make Ente à l'orange - Duck with orange sauce, a few days ago.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 duck (ca.1.5 kg)
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 shallots, chopped coarsely
  
• 2 tbs orange marmalade
  
• 100 ml orange juice
  
• 150 ml chicken stock
• 150 ml white wine
  
• 100 ml cream
• dried chopped marjoram
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 tbs flour, mixed with 3 tbs of water
  

Instructions

• Rub the duck with salt, pepper, orange marmalade and marjoram.
• Put the duck into a roasting tin. Pour orange juice, chicken stock, white wine, chopped shallots and the bay leaf into the tin.
• Roast the duck at medium temperature (150 C) for 2 - 2.5 hours. Check every half hour and keep adding hot water (even better, chicken stock) over the duck. I would say, 50-100 ml per half hour.
  
• Remove the cooked duck from the roasting tin. Cover.
  
• Sauce: Transfer the juice from duck into a saucepan and let it boil, adding cream, sugar, salt, pepper and the flour/water mixture.
• Serve with potato dumplings, red cabbage and orange slices.
  

This meal is so festive and somehow always makes me feel happy eating it :)!

Look at my balcony! Isn't it pretty? I am really hoping for a white Christmas...!