Lingonberry Roast Duck

Yesterday I was feeling adventurous and so I pulled a duck from the freezer and thawed it for the evening. Here's the recipe I came up with, a combination of a general roast duck recipe with a version of a spicy (peach, but I substituted lingonberry) basting sauce recipe that I've enjoyed in the past. The resultant duck was absolutely wonderful! Prep time includes marination. This is a Pantry Challenge recipe.

• Ready In: 3 hrs
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 5 1⁄2-6  lbs ducklings
• 3⁄4 cup  lingonberry preserves
• 1⁄4 cup soy sauce
• 1⁄4 cup sherry wine
• 1⁄2 cup hard apple cider
• 10  cloves garlic, minced
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried ancho chile powder
• 1⁄4 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 -2  teaspoon Tabasco sauce, to taste
• 1⁄2 large onion
• 2 1⁄2 tablespoons honey
• 1⁄2 cup  chopped scallion (green onion)
• 3  cups  additional hard apple cider

Directions

1. Rinse/wash and dry the duckling, removing any giblets, etc, that are inside (use the giblets to make an excellent broth, another time*- you can freeze them for later use, if necessary).
2. In a bowl, combine the jam, soy sauce, sherry, hard cider, garlic, lemon juice, and Tabasco.
3. Pour 1/2 cup of the jam mixture into the inside of the duck and roll the duck around to coat the inside; place on roasting rack in the roasting pan.
4. A quarter of a cup at a time and making sure all of the skin becomes wet from the glaze (and a good number of lingonberries remain on the skin of the duck), pour most of the rest of the jam mixture onto the duck, reserving about 1/4 of a cup; let the duck sit for 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Remove the outer skin from the onion half, then cut it into quarters; stuff the duck with the onion pieces.
7. Combine the reserved lingonberry sauce with the honey; pour the honey/sauce over the duck (get some inside, too, and try not to dislodge too many lingonberries), then drizzle with sprinkle with the chopped green onions.
8. Roast covered at 350 degrees F for 1 hour, basting occasionally with drippings, then add the hard cider to the bottom of the roasting pan; roast un-covered an additional hour, basting occasionally.
9. Serve with rice pilaf or wild rice, and vegetables.
10. *Tomake an excellent dark broth: take 4 cups water, the giblets from the duck (neck, heart, liver, kidney), the onion that was inside the roasted duck, and the roasting pan drippings (and any leftover bits of roasted duck you're willing to use, such as the wings) and put it all in a crockpot on low for 8 hours; strain well and refrigerate for use within 3 or 4 days, or put into ice cube trays and freeze.
11. Note: you can substitute other types of berry jam for the lingonberry.