Maple Glazed Duck With Orange Watercress Food

MAPLE-GLAZED DUCK WITH ORANGE & WATERCRESS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Place the duck legs on a wire rack, skin-side up, with a tray underneath to catch the fat. Put in the oven and roast for 1 hr. Meanwhile, to make the glaze, pour the soy sauce, maple syrup, honey and juice into a saucepan and bring up to the boil. Add the cinnamon stick and ginger and simmer until the glaze is sticky, then leave to cool.
• After 1 hr, turn the oven up to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Brush the glaze generously over the duck and continue to cook for 30 mins, brushing with glaze every 5 mins or so, until the duck is a deep mahogany with a caramelised crust. Remove from the oven and leave to rest.
• While the duck is roasting, make the dressing by whisking together all the ingredients, except the oil, in a pan. Simmer until reduced by half, then whisk in the oil. If you like, you can char the orange segments. Lay them on a metal baking tray and caramelise them with a blowtorch (you only need to colour one side). Don't blowtorch on parchment or a non-heat resistant plate.
• To serve, tip the watercress and orange segments into a large bowl and toss in half the dressing. Divide the salad between the plates, place a crispy duck leg on top and drizzle with a little extra dressing.

SOUR ORANGE GLAZED DUCK WITH HERB CREPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
• A day before roasting, remove the giblets and neck from the cavity of the bird and discard. Trim the neck flap and excess fat from around the cavity. Rinse and dry the bird well. Set the duck on a rack on a baking sheet, and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 hours.
• Pierce the duck skin all over (including the back), every 1/2-inch, with a skewer or small knife. Season the cavity with salt and pepper and stuff with strips or orange, lemon and lime zest and the onion. Set the duck on the rack in a roasting pan, and pour a cup of water in the pan. Roast the bird for 3 hours, removing the duck from the oven every hour to prick the skin again. Remove the duck from the oven and carefully, pour off the excess fat from the pan. (If desired reserve this fat for frying potatoes or wilting greens). Raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees F. Return the duck to the oven and roast until crisp and brown, about 30 minutes more. During the last 20 minutes of roasting, brush the duck with 1 cup of the orange glaze.
• Let the duck rest for 20 minutes before carving. Brush the ducks skin with glaze 4 to 5 times during the resting period. Carve the duck and transfer pieces to warm serving platter. Serve the remaining glaze at the table to drizzle over the duck, if desired.
• Brush the surface of the crepe with some sour orange glaze. Place a few slices of duck in the center of the crepe and top with a few sprigs of watercress. Fold over and roll up and serve.
• Place the juice, garlic, fennel and peppercorns in a medium saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until reduced to 2 cups. Strain the sauce into a bowl and let cool to room temperature. Once cooled, remove 3/4 cup and place in bowl to serve with the crepes.
• In blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Heat a small non-stick pan over high heat. Add butter to coat. Pour 1-ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl the spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to the cutting board. Lay them out flat so they can cool. Continue until all the batter is gone.

ORANGE GLAZED DUCK

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.
• Pat duck breasts dry. Lightly prick duck skin surface several times with a fork to help fat cook out. In a small bowl, combine salt with the other seasonings and season the duck. Insert a pop-up thermometer at an angle, in the thickest part of the breast. Place duck in preheated oven and turn down heat to 375 degrees F. Roast for about 25 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together glaze ingredients. About 10 to 15 minutes before duck is done, pour glaze over duck and finish cooking.
• Let duck rest, tented with foil for 5 to 10 minutes before carving.

BALSAMIC, ORANGE, HONEY, MAPLE SYRUP GLAZED DUCK

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 190c.
• Mix all the ingredients (except the duck!) together in a small saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes.
• Reserve 1/4 of the glaze.
• Sit the duck on a rack over a baking dish, baste and place in oven.
• Baste the duck every 10 minutes throughout the cooking process with remaining 3/4 of glaze.
• A 2kg duck should take about 1 hour 15 minutes to cook, but give one of his legs a pull, and if it moves freely and any juices run clear, your duck will be cooked.
• Place on a serving platter brush with reserved glaze and serve.
• Pass any remaining reserved glaze to be spooned over carved duck.

ROAST DUCK WITH CRANBERRY GLAZE

Steps:

• Rinse the cranberries carefully under running water, and pick them over to remove any that have spoiled.
• Mix one cup of cranberries, the honey, and one-half cup of water in a small saucepan and cook, simmering, until the cranberries are very soft. Strain through a sieve into a small bowl. The honey liquid is the glaze for the duck.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F Remove the gizzard, heart, and liver from the duck and set aside. Put the orange peel, half the onion, and about half a teaspoon of salt and pepper in the cavity. Paint the duck with a little of the cranberry glaze.
• Place the duck on a rack in a roasting pan and roast for 45 minutes. Every 15 minutes, paint the surface with a little of the cranberry glaze. Remove the duck from the oven and prick the skin all over with a fork to release the fat. Return to the oven and continue roasting, painting every 15 minutes with the glaze, for a total of two hours.
• While the duck is roasting, make a broth with the innards: roughly chop the remaining half onion and the duck innards. Place in a small saucepan with the wine, another half teaspoon of salt and pepper, and a cup of water. Simmer gently for an hour or more, until the broth is reduced to approximately one-half cup of flavorful liquid. Strain the broth and discard the solids.
• Mix the remaining half cup of cranberries with the remaining half cup of water, the sugar, and the balsamic vinegar. Cook together for 10 minutes until the mixture is syrupy. Set aside.
• When the duck has finished roasting, remove it from the oven and set aside. It should be a beautiful dark-red color.
• Strain the pan juices into a glass measuring cup and carefully remove the duck fat that floats to the top. (Do not discard: duck fat is wonderful for roasting or frying potatoes.) Add the innard broth the roasting juices and use this to deglaze the roasting pan, scraping up the roasting bits that have stuck to the pan. Strain the whole through a fine sieve and place in a small saucepan.
• Add the cranberry-vinegar syrup to the pan juices and broth. If there is any glaze remaining, add that to the mixture and bring the whole to a simmer just to warm it and mix everything together.
• Carve the duck if you wish, or send it whole to the table, together with the warm cranberry sauce.