Thai Duck Curry

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit with the rack in second lowest position. Take duck out to bring to room temperature while the oven preheats.

Remove organs from the internal cavity of the duck (they're usually in a bag) and save for later. Then place the duck, breast side up, on a baking sheet. Make shallow pricks everywhere but the drumsticks with a knife and season the duck with salt.

Before cooking, I recommend opening some windows or doors and turning on a fan. The duck fat seems to fill the air and can be a little uncomfortable for your eyes if you don't have good air flow. I learned this the hard way!

Place the duck in the oven and roast for 45 minutes. Then remove from the oven, carefully flip the duck, and roast for another 45 minutes or until done. The duck is done when a cut into the thigh produces clear, not pink, juices and no pink uncooked flesh is found when you pry into the cut. You can also check if it's done with a thermometer. It's done at about 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Once done let the duck sit for at least 15 minutes before carving.

While your duck cooks, gather your ingredients, chop your veggies, make the Thai curry paste if you're making it from scratch and haven't made it already, rinse the organs you set aside earlier (birds typically come with liver, heart, and gizzards), and chop them into 1 cm x 1 cm x 1/2 cm chunks (using organs is optional, but highly recommended). Note if you're making the curry paste at the same time as the duck, leave the stove at 425 and shorten the roasting time for the ginger, shallots, and garlic to account for the warmer temperature.

When your duck is about 5-10 minutes away from being done cooking, heat your cooking fat in a pan over medium high heat. Once hot, add the onions and peppers. After a few minutes add the zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and some salt. Stir occasionally as you cook. When the veggies are a few minutes away from being done add the chopped organs. Cook till the veggies are fork tender and the organs only have a little pink on the inside.

While the veggies cook, carve up your duck. First spoon off the fat from roasting pan (reserve if desired). Carefully tilt the duck, and pour accumulated juices and fat from cavity into pan. Then place the duck on a cutting board. There are lots of ways to carve the duck from here, but as long as you get nearly all the meat off and get it chopped up, it doesn't really matter how you go about it. I'll give you an example of one way to carve it though. First, place the duck breast side down and cut along both sides of the backbone to remove the meat. Then flip duck breast side up and slice along ridge of breastbone to remove meat. When you get to the thigh bone, sever the joint to remove the legs and do the same at the arm sockets to remove the wings. Then remove meat from legs and wings using a knife and/or your hands. Slice the breast and any large chunks from other parts of the duck into bite size pieces. You can save the bones in freezer to make bone broth later if you wish too!

Then add all the chopped duck and coconut milk to the pan with the veggies and organs. Once the coconut milk releases its fragrance (you'll smell a strong coconut smell), add the Thai curry paste. Stir to mix the curry paste and coconut milk fully together and leave on the burner for a minute or two to ensure everything is warm. Then serve either by itself or with some rice and enjoy!