Oh man, I wish I could share my mom's beer duck recipe with you, but it's a secret family recipe! But basically you braise the duck in beer, soy sauce, and sugar. It's so easy and delicious, and you can even skim off the duck fat from the top of the braising liquid! Here are some pictures: http://the-cooking-of-joy.blogspot.com/2010/03/mama-huangs-secret-beer-duck-recipe.html

I have made duck once, and it turned out beautifully thanks to the recipe I linked below. The only thing I did differently was brush the duck with orange marmalade in the middle of cooking to add sweetness. The homemade gravy I made with the drippings turned out wonderfully.

http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2009/05/how_to_roast_a.html

Oooh, good question. I've never cooked a whole duck before, either. Nigella Lawson, in How to Eat, goes on about it for two or three pages, and it sounds just delicious, but I've never gotten around to it. Good luck!

Stuff apples inside!!! and roast it dry. Oh sooooo goood

My family roasts whole duck with paprika, then you take the fat from the duck, and pour it over white rice... its delicious <.<

Also probably awful for you. But delicious.

Would you be willing to break the duck down into different parts? You can do a lot of different things with a whole duck. Of course you can roast it whole. Roasting a whole duck may smoke your house up but it is very rewarding. Remove the wings, lightly score the skin covering the breast of the duck with a very sharp knife, stuff the cavity with a peeled orange and some thyme and place duck in a roasting pan on top of the wings and it's neckbone, along with the liver, heart and gizzard, cover with salt and pepper and roast at about 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Then lower the heat to 350 and continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes. Let the duck rest for at least a half hour before carving.

If you are interested in breaking the duck down into breast halves and legs, it's quite easy. The breasts can be cooked like chicken breasts--in a pan, in the oven or on the grill. You may want to shave a little bit of the fatty skin off of the breast and score it before you cook them.

The legs can be cured with garlic, thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper overnight and then prepared confit style the next day. By saving every scrap of fatty skin from the duck carcass you will have enough to make duck confit.

The duck carcass is great for soup.

I put together a video for fun that walks you through breaking down a duck if you are interested. http://www.vimeo.com/6532257

stuffed with apples and tons and tons of marjoram - so delicious

Growing up we ate lots of wild duck during the fall. Our favorite, hands down, way to bake a duck: stuff the cavity with apple, orange and onion pieces, splash in a heavy dose of red wine, sprinkle the skin with salt/pepper and bake until the thigh meat juices run clear. We ate all the meat we could scrape off. It was our Neanderthal dinner and very good.

You can break it down and make duck confit! With the fat, skin, legs, heart, and guzzard. The breast is great seared by itself or it can be part of the confit.

Take the carcass and make duck stock.

You can watch Alton defrost and cut down the duck here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSO_Ej2WwZU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Frn-M8HnlP0&feature=related

I wrote a post about how to cook a duck here ala Julia Child: http://houndsinthekitchen.com/2009/12/29/how-to-cook-a-duck/

I've been saving this recipe from Alex Guarnaschelli. She made it recently on her FTV show, which I rarely watch, but it looked really, really delicious.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alexandra-guarnaschelli/whole-duck-with-green-peppercorn-glaze-recipe/index.html

There are lots of good links here already, but I wanted to add that when I roasted my first duck it wasn't hard at all. And the duck fat is great for making delicious roasted potatoes next time you turn on the oven. So tasty!