Roast Duck With Prunes And Wine Braised Cabbage Recipes

Steps:

• At least 24 hours before serving, mix the salt, pepper and herbs, except the thyme sprigs, in a large bowl. Add the duck legs and rub in the herby salt until well coated. Cover and leave overnight or up to 24 hours in the fridge.
• Next day, wipe the salty mixture from the duck legs and place them in a single, tight-fitting layer in the base of a pan. Add the bay leaves from the bowl and pour over the goose fat. If it doesn't cover the duck, top up with the groundnut oil. Cook over the lowest possible heat for 2½ hours, so the fat barely bubbles. The duck skin should be creamy rather than golden once cooked. Transfer the legs to a bowl and strain in the fat, pushing the duck under until fully submerged. (The duck can now be chilled and refrigerated for up to 1 month.)
• While the duck is cooking (or up to 2 days ahead of the meal), make the madeira gravy and cabbage. For the gravy, melt the butter in a small pan, add the shallots and cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring until golden. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring all the time, until the flour browns - take care not to let it burn. Whisk in the stock and continue whisking over the heat until slightly thickened. Add the madeira and cook for 2 minutes more. Strain through a sieve into a bowl. (The gravy can now be cooled and chilled for up to 2 days.)
• For the cabbage, scoop 2 tbsp of the goose fat from the duck as it cooks (if making at another time use olive oil) and put into a medium pan. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until softened. Tip in the juniper berries and cabbage and cook over a fairly high heat until the cabbage starts to soften. Stir in the vinegar, orange juice, raisins and redcurrant jelly. Cover and leave to cook for 15 minutes, stirring now and then until tender. (Cool and chill for up to 2 days if making ahead.)
• On the day, preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Remove the duck legs from the fat and wipe away any excess with kitchen paper. Put the duck on a wire rack in a roasting tin and top each leg with a sprig of thyme. Roast for 10 minutes, then add the creamy wild mushroom potatoes to the oven (see recipe, below) and cook with the duck for 30 minutes, or until the duck skin is golden. Meanwhile, reheat the cabbage and gravy in separate pans until piping hot.
• To serve, put a generous spoonful of cabbage on serving plates and sit the duck legs on top. Spoon round the gravy and serve with the potatoes. For a green vegetable, quickly stir fry some sugar snaps.

Steps:

• Duck is a notoriously fatty bird. To diminish the fat and produce a crispy skin, begin by trimming the excess fat from the body. Rinse the duck thoroughly, inside and out, and pat dry with paper towels. Season the bird inside and out with a generous amount of salt and pepper.
• To prepare the stuffing: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, celery seed, prunes, apples, and 4 sage leaves; season with salt and pepper; saute for 10 minutes until soft. Add the bread cubes and toss the mixture together to combine. Put the stuffing in a large mixing bowl and moisten it with a squeeze of lemon and the heavy cream; give it another toss and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the stuffing into the duck cavity. Rip off a foot long piece of aluminum foil and lay it on an insert rack fitted in a roasting pan, let a bit of the foil hang off the end. Lay the duck, breast-side up, on the foil; tuck the wing tips back under the duck, and fold the excess foil over the end of the duck with the stuffing. The foil will protect the stuffing from burning and falling into the delicious duck fat.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Roast the duck for 21/2 to 3 hours, rotating the pan every 20 minutes or so. It may seem like a bother, but it's the best way to ensure an even crispy skin. The legs will wiggle easily when the bird is done and an instant-read thermometer will register about 180 degrees F when inserted into the thigh.
• Take the insert rack out of the pan and set the duck on a cutting board to let it rest before carving. Now you have a whole lot of duck fat in the bottom of the roasting pan. Pour out all but a couple of tablespoons of the duck fat into a container and reserve.
• For the gravy: Place the roasting pan, with the couple of tablespoons of duck fat, on the stove over 2 burners set on medium heat. Sprinkle in the flour and stir to make a paste. Crank the heat up to high and add the wine, cook and stir, scraping the bottom of the pan, until the liquid is reduced slightly. Add the chicken stock and remaining 4 sage leaves, season with salt and pepper. Cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes until the gravy has thickened slightly.

Steps:

• Combine sugar, salt, garlic, rosemary and thyme and cover the duck evenly. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Place cured duck in a roasting pan and cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, or until leg bone twists free with ease. Let duck cool, de-bone and julienne meat. Thinly slice the cabbage. In a pot add cabbage, jalapeno peppers, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, dry mustard, black pepper, salt, celery salt and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer, turning and stirring often for 20 minutes.
• Blanch the asparagus in boiling water until tender and immediately shock in ice water bath. Reheat the duck, cabbage and asparagus and plate. Garnish with rosemary and sprig.

Steps:

• Unwrap the ducks and allow them to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. With a fork, prick the skin without piercing the meat. This will allow the fat to drain off while the ducks cook.
• Meanwhile, in a very large stock pot which can hold the 2 ducks, heat the chicken broth with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt until it boils. Add the ducks very carefully and bring the stock back to a boil. If there isn't enough stock to cover the ducks, add the hottest tap water to cover. If the ducks float to the top, place a plate on top to keep them immersed. When the stock comes back to a boil, lower the heat and simmer the ducks in the stock for 45 minutes.
• When the ducks are finished simmering, skim off enough duck fat from the top of the stock to pour a film on the bottom of a 14 by 18 by 3-inch roasting pan. This will keep the ducks from sticking when they roast. Carefully take the ducks out of the stock, holding them over the pot to drain. Place them in the roasting pan, pat the skin dry with paper towels, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt and the pepper. If you have time, allow the ducks to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the skin to dry.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. (Be sure your oven is very clean or it will smoke!) Roast the ducks for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to rest, covered with aluminum foil, for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Steps:

• 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.