Five spice duck breasts with honey and soy

Ingredients

2 small duck breast
4 tsp five-spice
2 tbsp clear honey
6 tbsp soy sauce

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

With a sharp knife, score the fat of the duck into a cross-hatch pattern

Sprinkle the five-spice powder onto the skin of the duck breasts and rub it into the fat well. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat a heavy-based ovenproof frying pan. Don’t add oil. Place the duck breasts skin-side down in the hot pan. Season the other side with five-spice powder and salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook until most of the fat has run out into the pan and the skin has a golden colour (about three minutes).

Turn the duck breasts over and cook the other side for a minute or so.

Place the duck breasts in the oven for 3-5 minutes to finish.

To make the sauce, warm the honey and soy sauce together in a small pan. Bring up to boiling point and let it bubble for a minute or two to reduce. Take off the heat and allow to cool. The sauce should have a syrup-like consistency.

Remove the cooked duck breasts from the oven and leave to rest in a warm place.

Slice the duck breasts into strips. Drizzle over the honey and soy sauce, and serve

Duck with orange sauce

From Chicken the best ever recipe collection
Serves 2-3

Ingredients

1 whole roasting duck, approximately 2kg
2 oranges,
1/2 cup caster sugar
6 tablespoons white wine vinegar,
1/2 cup grand marnier
salt and freshly ground black pepper,
orange slices to garnish.

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Trim off the excess fat and skin from the duck and prick the skin all over with a fork. Season the duck inside and out with salt and pepper; secure the legs with cooking string.

Place the duck on a rack in a large roasting tin. Cover tightly with foil and cook in the oven for 1½ hours.

With a vegetable peeler, remove the orange rind in wide strips then slice into thinner strips. Squeeze the juice from the oranges.

In a small heavy-based saucepan mix the vinegar and orange juice and stir to dissolve. Boil over a high heat, without stirring, until the mixture is rich caramel colour. Remove from the heat and carefully add the orange juice, pouring it down the side of the pan. Swirl the pan to blend, bring back to the boil and add the orange rind and liquor. Simmer for 2 – 3 minutes.

Remove the duck from the oven and pour off all the fat. Raise the oven temperature to 200?C/400?F/Gas 6. Return the duck to the oven and continue to roast, uncovered for 25-30 minutes, basting frequently with the sauce, until the duck is brown and juice runs clear when the thickest part of the thigh is pierced with a knife or skewer.

Pour the juices from the duck cavity into the tin and transfer the bird to a carving board. Cover with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Pour the roasting juices into the saucepan with the remaining caramel mixture, skim off the fat and simmer gently. Serve the duck garnished with watercress and orange slices, and accompanied by the sauce.

Roast mallard breast with root vegetables and game sauce

From Nick Nairn’s New Scottish Cookery
Serves 4

Ingredients

For the roasted root vegetables:
4 tbsp sunflower oil
25g butter
600g root vegetables – turnip, swede, potato, celeriac, carrot, parsnip, celery and/or fennel, all cut into 4cm chunks
Freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper
For the sauce:
150ml ruby port
150ml red wine
450ml duck or chicken stock (there’s a recipe in p236 of the book, otherwise use ready-made or instant)
1 tsp redcurrant jelly
25g cold butter, diced

For the duck:
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
4 mallard breasts, boned
Freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground pepper

To make the roasted root vegetables preheat the oven to 190°C.

Heat the oil and butter in a large roasting tin on top of the stove. Fling in the vegetables and stir fry for 5-6 minutes over a high heat, until well coloured. Season and add just enough water, about 300ml to half cover the vegetables. Bring to the boil and reduce the liquid by half.

Transfer to the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until the water has evaporated and the vegetables are just tender. Give a good stir and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes, until the vegetables are well coloured. Season with salt and pepper. Keep the root vegetables warm in a cool oven

To make the sauce, put the port and the red wine in a small saucepan and reduce until it’s nearly disappeared. Add the stock and redcurrant jelly and reduce it by half. Add the butter and shake the pan until the butter dissolves, but don’t let it boil. Keep the sauce warm.

To cook the mallard, you need to heat a large frying pan until hot. Add the sunflower oil and heat it until smoking. Season the mallard breasts with salt and pepper and then add them to the pan, skin side up.

Cook for 2 minutes, and then turn skin-side down and cook for a further 5-10 minutes over a medium heat, depending on how thick the breast is and how pink you like your duck. Turn skin side up once more, remove the pan from the heat and allow the mallard breasts to relax in the pan in a warm place for 10-30 minutes.

Warm the sauce through. Taste to check the seasoning before popping the mallard breasts back into a hot oven for 1½ minutes. Lay out four warmed plates and divide the vegetables between four neat piles. Carve each breast into three and place next to the vegetables. Spoon over the sauce and serve.

Whole roasted duck with duck-fat potatoes and bordelaise sauce

From Saturday Kitchen
Serves 4

Ingredients

For the whole roasted duck
1 whole duck, trimmed and wings removed
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the duck-fat potatoes
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced into 1cm/½in cubes
100g/3½oz duck fat (trimmed from the whole duck)
For the bordelaise sauce
50g/1¾oz unsalted butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
1 bay leaf
5 black peppercorns
200ml/7fl oz red wine
300ml/10½fl oz veal jus, warmed (available from some large supermarkets)
pinch sugar

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

For the whole roasted duck, use a small sharp knife to pierce the skin of the duck all over, but be careful not to tear holes in the skin. Season the duck with salt and black pepper and place on a wire rack sat in a roasting tin. Roast for 25 minutes.<a

Remove the duck from the oven and pour any excess fat from the roasting tin into a jug. Reduce the oven temperature to 120C/250F/Gas ½.
When the oven reaches 120C/250F/Gas ½, return the duck to the oven and cook for a further 1¼ hours – basting with the reserved fat every 20 minutes. Once cooked allow the duck to rest for 30 minutes.
For the duck fat potatoes, heat a large frying pan and add the duck fat. Once hot and melted, add the diced potatoes and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until golden-brown and tender.
For the bordelaise sauce, heat a medium saucepan and add the butter. Once hot, add the shallot and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the thyme, bay leaf and peppercorns and cook for a few minutes.
Add the red wine and cook until the volume of liquid has reduced by half. Pour in the warm veal jus and reduce by half again. Season with a little sugar, to taste. Pass through a fine sieve and set aside in a warm place until ready to serve.

To serve, remove the duck breasts from the roasted duck and cut into pieces. Divide the meat between serving plates.

Serve the potatoes next to the duck with a spoonful of the sauce.

Roast duck with potatoes

From Nigella Kitchen
Serves 2

Ingredients
2 duck legs
2 baking potatoes or 1 pound other large white-skinned potatoes
Few sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt and pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

On the stove, heat a small roasting pan (I use one like a slightly oversized tarte tatin pan) and sear the duck legs, skin-side down over medium heat until the skin turns golden and gives out some oil.

Turn the legs over, and take the pan off the heat while you cut the potatoes into 1-inch slices across, then cut each slice into 4. Arrange these potato pieces around the duck legs, then let a few sprigs of thyme fall over the duck and potatoes, and season with salt and pepper, before putting into the preheated oven.

Cook for two hours, occasionally turning the potatoes, for optimal outcome, which is tender duck legs and crispy potatoes, though both will be ready to eat after 1 1/2 hours.

This is so ridiculously easy! I wouldn’t go for 2 hours as I think the duck will be too dry. I bought two duck legs from Waitrose and simply followed the instructions which is to cook it for 2 hours at 180 degrees. I added the tomatoes for the final five minutes just to make it a balanced meal

One-pan duck with savoy cabbage

From BBC Goodfood
Serves 2

Ingredients

2 duck breasts
1 tsp black peppercorns , crushed
600g cooked new potatoes , thickly sliced
bunch flat-leaf parsley , roughly chopped
1 garlic clove , finely chopped
6 rashers smoked streaky bacon , chopped
1 Savoy cabbage , trimmed, quartered, cored and finely sliced
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil

Lightly score the skin of the duck breasts, then generously season with the peppercorns and a sprinkling of salt. Lay the duck breasts, skin-side down, in a non-stick sauté pan, then place over a low heat. Leave the duck for 15 mins to brown and release its fat, then flip over onto the flesh side for 5 mins.
Remove the duck from the pan, then turn up the heat. Add the potatoes to the pan, fry until brown and crisp, then scatter over the parsley and garlic. Scoop out with a slotted spoon onto a plate, then season with salt.
Keep the pan on the heat. Fry the bacon until crisp, then add the cabbage. Cook for 1 min, add a splash of water, then fry for 2 mins, just until the cabbage is wilted. While the cabbage is cooking, whisk any juices from the duck with the vinegar and olive oil. To serve, carve the duck breast into slices. Fan out on large dinner plates, spoon a neat bundle of cabbage on one side, then pile a serving of potatoes on the other. Drizzle over the dressing and serve.

So the recipe was for duck breast but being the Scrooge that I am, I saw that Waitrose was selling 2 duck legs for 4 pounds as opposed to 2 duck breasts for 8 pounds. Economics won out in the end.

THAT SAID, I am regretting it as I think duck breast is better for pan frying. Duck legs are fine albeit a bit tough but I think it has to be duck breast…

Roast duck (French style)

From Classic Essential Roasts

Ingredients

2kg duck
2 chicken wings chopped
1/2 white wine
1 onion, chopped
1 small carrot, sliced
1 tomato, chopped
bouquet garni

Place the duck neck, chicken wings and wine in a pan. Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes until the wine has reduced by half.

Add the onion, carrot, tomato bouquet garni and 2 cups water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 40 minutes. Strain and set aside about 1 cup of the stock.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the duck in a large pan, cover with boiling water, then drain. Dry with paper towels. Using a fine skewer, prick all over the outside of the duck, piercing the skin, not the flesh. Place the duck breast-side-down in a baking dish and roast for 50 minutes.

Drain off any fat, turn the duck over and add the stock (pour the stock over the duck). Roast for 40 minutes or until the breast is golden brown. Pour off and reserve the stock.

Remove the duck from the pan and leave in a warm place. Carve and serve.

This recipe is easy enough though it does take some time to go through it. Adding the stock to the duck helps to keep the duck flesh moist and tender. The French style of roasting duck is much simpler than the Chinese style of roasting it, but it still tastes really good especially the crispy skin (and of course the layer of fat underneath). It tastes more of the natural flavours of the duck rather than the spices that are used in Chinese roasting.

I am supposed to make this with an orange sauce but I couldn’t find any Cointreau and I am still hesitant about adding oranges to duck. I know it’s a very famous French dish i.e. Orange Duck but still I am just not convinced by the combination. Instead I opted for a red wine sauce, the duck stock, red wine and corn flour to thicken it.

Duck stew with olives

Taken from Chicken – the best ever recipe collection

Serves 6-8

8 duck leg quarters
225g small onions
2 tbsp plain flour
350ml red wine
475ml duck or chicken stock
1 bouquet garni
115 g stoned green or black olives, or a combination

Put the duck pieces, skin side down, in a large frying pan over a medium heat and cook for 10-12 minutes until well browned, turning to colour evenly and cooking in batches if necessary.

Heat 1 tbsp of the duck fat in a large flameproof casserole. Add the onions and cook, covered over a medium low heat until evenly browned, stirring frequently. Sprinkle with the flour and continue cooking, uncovered for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in the win and bring to the boil, then add the duck pieces, stock and bouquet garni. Bring back to the boil, then reduce the heat to very low and simmer, covered for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Rinse the olives in several changes of cold water. Add the olives to the casserole and continue cooking for a further 20 minutes until the duck is very tender.

Transfer the duck pieces, onions, and olives to a plate. Strain the cooking liquid, skim off the fat and return the liquid to the pan. Boil to reduce by about one third, then adjust the seasoning and return the duck and vegetables to the casserole. Simmer gently to heat through before serving.