There's nothing like duck at Christmas! Buy a bunch of duck thighs, preferably the French kind. There are a lot of complicated marinades on the net, but this one's easy:
Put plain sesame oil in a little pan. Heat. How much? Oh, around a half a cup. (Not the dark roasted kind! The neutral kind).
Slice in lots of garlic plus one little red onion. Stir. Squeeze a bunch of oranges into the pot; pour in at least half a bottle of maple syrup.
Add a sprig or two of thyme and one or two of rosemary and any other nice-looking flavor packet you have lying around. Somebody gave me organic spice packets and one of them had a lot of rosemary and oregano and thyme; I threw in that one.
Taste. Yum! Maybe a dash more maple syrup, and slosh in some red wine.
Add in the duck and turn it over in the marinade, making sure each piece is coated. The whole thing will look like this:
Just cover the bowl and let the duck cool its heels overnight in the fridge--later on, arrange in a baking dish; you can sear them in a pan first if you like, then bake at about 350 for over an hour . . . maybe even one and a half hours, depending on your oven. Keep checking. Enjoy. If you're feeling ambitious, make a gravy out of the leftover marinade (add a little flour, stir over low heat until it's a nice consistency). Alternatively (and this is what I ended up doing): lift the thighs out of the marinade, sear them in olive oil in a Dutch oven, toss in a little flour, add the marinade plus a tad of broth concentrate or powder, and cook nearly covered, turning occasionally, for about an hour. It was good!
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