Rich, succulent duck, bathed in a buttery, orange glaze; tender and juicy on the inside with crispy, crunchy skin grilled to perfection! You KNOW you wanna make this!!
Though this isn’t a sponsored post, I was sent this wonderful duck from Maple Leaf Farms for an event quite a few months back. And I’m so glad the weather finally turned nice enough to spend some quality time with one of my best friends…my GRILL!! Ha!
Honestly, I don’t know what I would do without all of my deck “friends”! If there are two things that I love to do most, it’s grilling and frying! I can spend all day doing either, and never get tired of it!
So, I wanted to best use the warm sunny day to grill! And I still had the last of the duck in the freezer absolutely BEGGING to be made pretty, so duck it was going to be!
The duck halves were already precooked, so that was a no-brainer. But the leg quarters were not. After reading up, they seemed to take a lot more time than I had assumed, and required a slow, steady, moderate cook of about an hour and a half! Whoa.
So instead of cooking them on the grill from start to finish, (that’s a LOT of propane!), I decided to start them in the oven and then finish them on the grill.
Since grilling always seems to go faster than baking in an oven, I only baked them for 50 minutes, and that ended up working out perfectly.
The precooked duck halves required 30 minutes on the grill, so once the leg quarters were done, I just put it all on the grill to get them finished at the same time!
My hubby taught me how to make his mom’s “secret sauce”, which is simply orange juice concentrate straight from the can, mixed with a half of a stick of salted butter!
I used my favorite, (best butter in the world!), Minerva Dairy Amish Butter with Sea Salt! None other will do!!
The pic of the can of o.j. that I used accidentally got deleted from my camera. Oopsie! But just use whatever your favorite is, with or without the pulp. (I used the no-pulp kind so that I could get a nice, shiny glaze!)
Isn’t is just gorgeous??!!! Definitely company-worthy!!
I whipped up some pantry items to have alongside. Nothing special, just buttered corn and stuffing.
But if serving to company, I’d go with baked potatoes on the grill, and a fresh garden salad with one of my homemade salad dressings!
The duck was really spectacular, though! What a show-stopper of a dish!!!
And what we found, was that, the DARKER the skin the better! That one piece in the back, the darkest grilled, was actually the best piece of them all! So do keep that in mind.
And no, it wasn’t burnt at all. Just a bad photo. Sorry about that! It was actually perfect!!
And if serving this to guests, you can even do the baking part the day before, then all that’s left to do is just make the side dishes and grill the duck to reheat and crisp!
This was definitely one of the best meals we’ll be having this entire summer without a doubt!! Not something that you have everyday, and such royal treat!
So if looking for a special dinner to make for a birthday, special occasion, get-together, or event, go all out and toss some duck on the grill!!
Totally unexpected and something to surely wow your guests, these Grilled Duck Leg Leg Quarters with Orange Butter is just simply the best! Hope you enjoy all, and have a wonderful weekend!
Grilled Duck Leg Quarters with Orange Butter
2 whole bone-in duck leg quarters
sprinkling of seasoned salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika to taste
For Orange Butter:
1/2 stick Minerva Dairy Butter with Sea Salt
1/2 can orange juice concentrate, with or without pulp
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º F. Season both sides of leg quarters with as much or little seasonings as you like. (Just as you would chicken.)
When oven is fully preheated, bake for about 50 minutes. *Duck will not be all the way done.
Heat grill to 350º F. In grill-proof small pan, warm butter and orange juice concentrate, stirring to combine.
Baste tops of leg quarters with orange butter sauce and place skin side down onto hot, oiled grill. Baste top sides and close grill lid. Grill for 10 – 15 minutes, checking to make sure it isn’t burning. Baste and turn, basting both sides well, and continue grilling (with lid closed) until done, about 15 more minutes or until internal temp of thickest part reaches 165º F, and skin is nice and crisp. (Turn as needed to evenly brown.)
Remove and tent with foil to rest at least 10 minutes before serving.
*If using precooked leg quarters or duck halves, follow the directions for the grilling part only, and skip the baking part as they are already done. You just want to baste and grill to heat them through and crisp the skin.
