Stuffed Duck | Whole Oven-Roasted Duck with Rice Stuffing

Rinse the duck inside and out and pat it dry with paper towels. Trim away and reserve any loose fat from the cavity. Using the tip of a knife, score the skin over the breast and thighs in a crosshatch, with cuts about a finger-width apart. Cut through the skin and stop in the fat layer; do not cut into the meat. Rub lemon juice over the skin, then season the duck inside and out with salt, black pepper, and thyme.

Melt the butter in a pan and cook the finely chopped onion until translucent. Add the coarsely chopped walnuts and cook for 1–2 minutes, until fragrant. Stir in the rinsed rice, currants, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Add the water and cook until the rice has absorbed about half of it. Spread the rice on a tray to cool slightly.

Fill the duck cavity about two-thirds full with the cooled rice stuffing; the rice will expand in the oven. Secure the skin opening with toothpicks and tie the legs together with kitchen twine. Heat the oven to 180°C / 355°F. Place the duck breast-side up on a wire rack with a deep roasting pan underneath.

Roast the duck at 180°C / 355°F for one and a half hours. Every forty minutes, spoon the accumulated fat out of the roasting pan; if it rises high enough to cover the bottom of the pan, the skin underneath the duck will not brown. Spoon a little rendered fat over the duck, then strain and refrigerate the rest.

Raise the oven temperature to 200°C / 390°F and roast for a final half an hour, until the skin is taut and deep golden brown. Insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh where it meets the body, without touching the bone. Do not remove the duck from the oven until it reaches 74°C / 165°F, the safe internal temperature for poultry. Check the rice stuffing in the cavity as well; it should reach the same safe temperature.

Remove the duck from the oven and rest it under loosely tented foil for 15 minutes; this lets the juices redistribute through the meat. Untie the legs and transfer the rice stuffing to a serving bowl. Slice the breast meat away from both sides of the breastbone, remove the legs at the joints, and serve over the rice.