When purchasing duck in the grocery store or butcher shop, look for antibiotic-free, air-chilled, and certified cage-free duck. Once you bring duck home, use it within three days unless it's frozen.

Now in my 25th year as a food writer, I've decided it's time to face a phobia. I have no trepidation about butchering meat, cleaning squid or gutting fresh fish, but the prospect of roasting a whole ...