Shredded Duck Legs

Hunting around my local supermarket, I spotted an absolute bargain on duck legs and came away with four large legs for £3!

Yeah, I could do all that confit business and make up something really fly with restaurant presentation and so on ... but it's sunny outside and we'd rather sit on the deck looking out over the valley and enjoy an unpressured meal with a glass or two of red wine.

So, I slathered some Discovery Chipotle Sauce over the legs, popped them in the over (from memory, it was 180C for 2 hours) and shredded the meat off the bones ...

... served with a scattered salad of sweet red pepper, shaved fennel, avocado, cucumber, radish and spring onion (as a hint, there's no method there, just madness ... pretty much whatever salad ingredients I had in) and for wraps, good old British cos lettuce.

Utterly hassle-free, prepared in minutes and eaten as and when ...

Duck! Fajita?

Duck! Fajita?

No, Duck Fajita!

Fancy something a little different? I was looking back through some food pictures and reminded just how good some birds are.

I can take or leave chicken, besides which most are factory slaughtered in a manner which I am not happy with; likewise, turkey.

Seasonal game birds are always good, preferably with warnings around shot in the meat, but also small production farms who can bring up ethically reared and slaughtered birds: duck and goose, namely.

My local supermarket carries a reasonable stock of Gressingham Duck Company products. Pushing aside the Duck in Plum Sauce, Duck in Orange Sauce  and Spicy Aromatic Duck, I found a container of what was labelled "Mini Breasts". In reality, I think these are the offcuts of trimmed breast, but there was a good amount at a good price.

But, what to do with them?

Pepped up with a dipping sauce and served with rice pancakes was one suggestion, nice salad of mooli and cucumber juliennes alongside.

What about fusion?

Take just that notion and go Mexican? It is Friday night afterall: Mexican Night!

So, duck, sweet red peppers, cucumber, tomato, marjoram, chilli, ginger, garlic and chives left to marinate in lime juice for a good hour, some fajitas made up with polvidho azedo (Manchego in place of the pecorino, here) and a guacamole alongside, chilli sauce for flavour.

I make up one from Maggi Chilli Sauce (which is just Chilli and a little sugar), Worcestershire Sauce, Tomato Ketchup (British Heinz brand is not quite as evil as it is in the US) and a little lemon juice. Relax! It's a condiment. You can do better, I'm sure! Please do.

... and there we are: Fajitas, done a little different.

Duck & Pomegranate Salad

Pomegranate, swede, rocket, chicory, fennel and spring onions - all right in season and all gorgeous!

Settling duck breast on top and a compote of Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb ... heaven!

With just 12 growers in a small triangle of just 9 square miles between Bradford, Leeds & Wakefield in West Yorkshire, a county in northern England, this is the Rhubarb Triangle.

Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb truly is the Champagne of rhubarb.

First, though ... the duck.

Take a duck breast per person and score the skin across the breast many times. While cooking, this will allow the fat to run out leaving a crispy, sumptuous skin, but also prevents the meat from curling up.

Heat up a heavy based pan and place the breasts skin side down onto the hot metal. Leave it to sit there, even pressing down to render the juicy fat out.

After a short while, the red side of the breast should start to colour up. Maybe 10 minutes, or so? At this point, flip the breasts over and cook on the flesh side for a few more minutes, before removing the breasts into some kitchen foil to rest.

While this is going on, build your salad.

Take a handful of rocket and layer up with fennel shavings, sliced chicory, shredded spring onions, pickled garlic, maybe pickled chilli and pomegranate seeds. Wet it up with a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Also, have some cubes of swede boiling away to soften.

Once soft enough, but not bereft of structure, drain off the swede cubes and toss them in the rendered duck fat. I added in a dusting of cinnamon and cayenne pepper just to build up a gentle warmth in the swede without overpowering the duck.

Place as a mound in the middle of the salad.

With the duck rested, slice on an angle and lay over the swede, topping with some rhubarb compote.

Perfect example of seasonal March Madness!

Ginger & Thyme Hinted Duck Breast over Shredded Cabbage

Duck breast will render all the fat you need to cook this whole dish! I don't need to say how good for you duck fat is.

First warm up a frying pan and without adding any further fat, place the duck breasts in skin side down and hold them down with a fish slice.

After about 90 seconds, let go and let them cook on a slightly lower heat for another few minutes. You'll see the fat render out.

Turn the breasts over onto a bed of fresh thyme and a little chopped ginger and, on a really low heat, let them simmer in their own juices for another 5 minutes, or so ... perfectly pink, but cooked is the goal.

Meanwhile, shred and steam some cabbage.

Set the duck breasts on a board to rest, frying off some chorizo in the rendered fat and tossing in the steamed cabbage at the end to collect all the good fat. The chorizo brings all the saltiness and spiciness necessary to elevate this dish.

Simple, eh?

Serve out, cabbage down first and slices of duck breast over the top.