I have always thought of duck as a very delicate meat that I would never-ever be able to cook myself. Still, I decided to give it a go. I had looked up some recipes featuring duck breasts and had my mind set on one particular recipe which called for juniper seeds and leeks and other interesting stuff. So I had all the ingredients but the duck breast which I decided to buy on the day I wanted to cook it. Then, a disaster stroke: no duck breast at my local supermarket. Duck legs only…I had already promised duck for dinner, so I bought them anyway and went home, a bit gutted, but still hoping that I could serve a decent meal using duck legs. I found this recipe from BBC Good food and immediately decided to use it as it seemed so simple yet elegant. I altered it a bit because I didn’t have all the ingredients at hand and was stunned that the end result was that good! Here’s the way I did it:
Serves two:
2 duck legs 0.5 ts five spice powder bunch of rosemary springs or a couple of tbsp dried rosemary 4 garlic cloves
# Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Rub the duck legs with salt and five-spice powder and put them in a roasting tin on a bed of rosemary and garlic cloves. Roast for 1 hr (check regularly, as mine were done already after 45 min).
# While the duck is in the oven, boil some vegetables you are going to use for the side dish (I chose baby potatoes). Also prepare the sauce. You’ll need:
300 ml red wine 2 tbsp black-currants jelly or red-currants jelly 1 tbsp cranberry jam
# Bring the wine, jelly and jam to a gentle simmer, stirring to dissolve the jelly, then continue to simmer for 5 mins. Taste and add some salt and pepper, if need be.
# When the duck has been cooking for an hr remove from the oven and spoon off almost all the fat, then pour the wine mixture around it and return to the oven for 10-15 mins to finish cooking and reduce the sauce (I also covered the duck with foil to prevent the skin from burning).
# For serving: place the duck leg to a pre-heated plate and add some warm vegetables. Sieve the sauce (so that you would get rid of the rosemary springs that can be unpleasant to eat) and pour it over the potatoes. Serve immediately. Goes well with red wine.
Lots of love and appreciation guaranteed! This dish was a real hit, J event told me that it was “restaurant-quality”. Definitely a keeper, although I am now eager to try some other duck recipes as well. What’s your favorite duck recipe?
