Roast duck with crispy potatoes and mulled-wine cherry sauce
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- Easy
- Serves 4
Ingredients
- 4 duck legs
- a few sprigs thyme, plus extra for garnishing
- 6 cloves garlic, bashed
- sea salt flakes
- 1kg Maris Piper potaotes, peeled and diced to 2cm
MULLED-WINE CHERRY SAUCE
- 300ml red wine
- 300ml chicken stock
- 75g dried sour cherries
- 3 cloves
- 4 allspice
- ½ cinnamon stick
- 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
- 30g butter
Method
- STEP 1
To make the sauce, put the wine, stock, cherries and spices into a pan. Simmer until reduced by 1/2. Scoop out the spices and discard. Stir in the redcurrant jelly and butter, and season. Reheat to serve.
- STEP 2
Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Put the duck legs in a baking dish and pat the skins dry. Add the thyme and garlic, and sprinkle with sea salt. Cover the dish tightly with foil and cook for 2 hours.
- STEP 3
Meanwhile, drop the potatoes into boiling salted water and cook for 5 minutes. Drain.
- STEP 4
Take the baking dish out of the oven and remove the duck legs. Turn up the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and put in a large, shallow, non-stick baking tray. Pour the duck juices from the baking dish into a jug. Pour off and keep the fat, leaving behind the duck juices (you can add these to the cherry sauce, if you like).
- STEP 5
Put 4 tbsp of the fat into the hot baking tray. Add the potatoes and stir around in the fat. Put in the oven and cook for 20 minutes until the potatoes are just turning golden, then nestle the duck in among the potatoes and cook for 40 minutes or until the duck and potatoes are crisp and deep golden. Sprinkle with more fresh thyme and sea salt. Serve with the sauce and some greens, if you like.
