Roasted Duck With Apples

Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees .
• Prick the duck all over the breast and in all the fat pockets with a wooden skewer, a fork or a paring knife. Try to poke just through the fat, not all the way to the meat. Pricking the fat will help the fat to escape better as it is cooking.
• Trim off all the excess skin and fat on the duck. Pat the duck dry with paper towels. Season the duck with salt and pepper all over the surface of the duck and also inside the inner cavity.
• Cut the apples, onion, and garlic cloves into sections and place them into the cavity of the duck. You can also add herbs, cranberries, lemon or orange, and also dry fruit, such as prunes, apricots, raisins, etc. As the duck is roasting, all these aromatic fruits, vegetables, and herbs will give an incredible flavor to the meat.
• Tuck the wing tips behind the back of the duck and tie the drumsticks together with kitchen twine.
• Place the duck in a roasting pan on top of a rack. Pour enough water to cover the bottom of the roasting pan. Cover the roasting pan with aluminum foil, or if you happen to have a roasting pan with a cover, use it. The water will prevent the duck fat from burning on the bottom of the pan and will also create a steaming effect while the duck is being roasted covered. This is another way to draw out the fat from under the skin of the duck.
• Roast the duck, covered, for about 45 minutes.
• Uncover, Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees and roast for another 30 minutes.
• Increase the heat to 475-500 degrees Fahrenheit and roast for another 10-15 minutes, just until the skin is golden and crisp and the duck registers 175-180 degrees  in the thickest part of the thigh.
• Discard the aromatics that you used to stuff the cavity of the duck. Let the duck rest for 10-15 minutes before carving it.