Tired of turkey at Christmas? Then why not opt for something different this year with a crisp, spiced roasted Duck?
I know it’s a little fattier than turkey and chicken…but the upside is it has so much more flavour and there’s no harm in challenging your taste buds every now and then. It’s also a very nutritious meat rich in both iron and protein. I suppose the reason most people don’t cook duck more often at home is because it has a reputation as being a difficult bird to cook perfectly. So how should you roast your duck?
Almost all oven-ready ducks are actually ducklings, under six months old and firstly, it’s important to remember that all types of duck are fatty, and to get as much of this fat out as possible, you need to prick the breast and thighs with a small skewer. Now season the duck (about 1.6kl in weight) well with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and place it on a roasting rack, this allows air to circulate right round the duck as it cooks. Place the duck in a pre-heated oven (190°C) for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Allow the duck to rest for 20 minutes or so before carving. Basting a roasting bird is essential as these pan juices will add moisture and flavour but they also help to colour and crisp up the skin so beautifully. Also, during the cooking time, using an oven glove to protect your hands, remove the tin from the oven and drain the fat from the corner of the tin – do this about 2-3 times and keep the fat for frying or roasting potatoes.
One little tip is for an extra crispy skin, pour a kettle of boiling water over the duck and then leave to dry for an hour before cooking.
If you want to enjoy duck more easily, duck breasts can be quickly pan-fried or grilled and duck legs can be roasted like chicken legs, or slowly roasted in duck fat, chilled and preserved in the fat as duck confit. You can off course buy tins of French “confit de canard”, that ancient preserve of slow-roasted duck legs stored in snowy layers of their own fat. Crisped up briefly in the oven, you get roast duck in no time but it is much more satisfying to make your own. Any leftover confit can be made into “Rillette”, a delicious and robust kind of paté.
Duck works really well with acidic fruits like cherries, oranges, passion fruits, blueberries etc as well as apples and pears. It marries perfectly with cabbage, pumpkins, and root vegetables mushrooms. Spices have a great affinity with duck and if you really want to make it easy you could but cooked duck legs “confit” already cooked…but that would be cheating right?
Spiced duck with red cabbage & pumpkin puree
Ingredients – serves 4
1X 2kg whole duck
1 whole orange, quartered
1 cinnamon stick
Spice mix
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
10 cloves
6 cardamom seeds
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
6 star anise
2 teaspoons Szechuan peppercorns
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground ginger
Place the spices in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Cook, stirring for 1 minute until lightly toasted and aromatic. Transfer to the Spice grinder and grind until coarsely crushed.
For the glaze:
½ of the spice mix
150ml maple syrup
100ml water
To make the glaze:
Bring the maple syrup, spices and water to the boil. Reduce to a light syrup and remove from the heat.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
Remove any excess fat from inside the cavity of the duck, then pierce the duck skin all over with a fork and stuff the neck end of the cavity with the quartered orange and cinnamon stick. Rub half of the spice powder all over the skin and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Transfer the duck to a rack over a medium roasting tray and roast for around 1 hour 20 minutes or until the duck is beautifully crisp and the meat falls easily away from the bone. Baste the duck 3-4 times during the cooking with the duck fat.
Remove from the oven and rest for at least 15 minutes. Brush the duck all over with the glaze and serve with red cabbage, pumpkin puree and few duck fat roasted potatoes.
BRAISED RED CABBAGE
1 small red cabbage, quartered,
1 green apple, peeled
1 red onion
50g butter
50g clear honey
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp light brown sugar
100g peeled hazelnuts, crushed
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
Use the shredding tool to shred the red cabbage, apple & onion.
Put the cabbage, apple and onion in a large casserole or deep saucepan.
Add the remaining ingredients, season well, cover with a tight-fitting lid and set the pan over a low heat. Cook for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally until the cabbage is tender.
Remove the star anise, the cinnamon stick and serve.
PUMPKIN PUREE
500g diced pumpkin
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1tsp chopped ginger
4tbsp olive oil
800ml chicken stock
Juice of one lime
Salt and pepper
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and gently sauté the onion and ginger until tender. Add the pumpkin, and then stir in the chicken stock. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until the pumpkin is tender. Add the lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Place in a liquidiser and blend to a fine puree and serve immediately.
By Marc Fosh – Michelin Star Chef
