I made this for Christmas this year:
This duck is all salted down, in order to draw out the moisture. It is, actually, supposed to look like this before it goes into the oven. I did this last year too, after Dad passed, as a special thing to help remember him. Apparently I'm the only one who remembers the one Christmas several years ago when we had a goose and a duck instead of the typical ham. Actually, we had that, too. There was a lot of food.
I would have said something about this last year, but my computer unexpectedly crashed, and the photos went with it. So no discussion of duck. I will say this about my second attempt: just as the last time, I used Alton Brown's no-fail spatchcock method of butterflying the bird, koshering it for several days to draw out the moisture from the skin, then roasting it for an hour at 350° (turning once) and then 10 more minutes at 450° to get the skin super crispy. It wasn't as crispy this year as last, but it was just as delicious. And had my cat lived to see this holiday, he would have loved to nibble on it as I gave him scraps while I was eating. I'll have extra for you, baby.
Oh, and for God's sake make sure you save that duck fat! Keep it in the fridge and it'll likely keep indefinitely. At least it has for me.
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