Pickled Duck With Mustard Sauce And Red Cabbage Food

PICKLED DUCK WITH MUSTARD SAUCE AND RED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Marinate ducks overnight in mixture of water, salt and sugar. Before cooking, drain and wash. Fill cavities with parsley and bay leaves. Season with pepper. Place in large roasting pan and roast at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
• Add stock to depth of one-quarter inch; lift ducks so stock can run underneath. Continue cooking 30 to 35 minutes, adding stock if necessary. Cool 15 minutes.
• Slice breasts and thighs thinly so that there are a total of 20 slices. Reserve remaining duck for other uses.
• To reheat, wrap stacked slices of duck in foil and place in warm oven for 20 minutes.
• Serve with mustard sauce and red cabbage, and garnish with kale and gooseberries.

PICKLED RED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Place the shredded cabbage in a colander over the sink and sprinkle with salt. Leave for 2-3 hours, then drain and wash away the salt. Pay dry with a clean tea towel.
• Put the vinegar, wine, sugar, peppercorns and bay leaves into a big, wide saucepan and simmer until the liquid has reduced by about half. Set aside for 10 mins to infuse.
• Strain through a fine sieve into a jug or bowl, and discard the peppercorns and bay leaves. Put the cabbage and mustard seeds into a big bowl, and then pour the strained liquid over. Transfer the cabbage and pickling liquid into sterilised jars and seal. Will last for a month in the fridge.

DUCK WITH RED CABBAGE & MADEIRA GRAVY

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.

PICKLED RED CABBAGE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, place cabbage, garlic and peppercorns. In a saucepan, bring water, vinegar, salt and sugar to a simmer until sugar and salt dissolves. Pour over cabbage; cover. Let stand 2 hours. Transfer to jars, if desired; seal tightly. Refrigerate 48 hours before serving and up to 1 month.

DUCK L'ORANGE WITH BRAISED RED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Slice thinly the red cabbage and place water (I used chicken stock), caster sugar (I substituted Splenda), orange rind, bay leaf, ground cinnamon, red wine vinegar, mustard seeds (I used brown), sea salt and pepper in large saucepan and stif frequently until tender; set aside to keep warm.
• Preheat oven 190°C.
• Score duck breasts by making a criss-cross pattern on the skin only.
• NOTE: Do not pierce the meat.
• Sprinkle duck with five-spice; heat frypan, add duck breast side down. Cook until golden brown (about 4 minutes) Turn over and cook skin side for 1 minute.
• Transfer to a baking paper lined oven tray. Cook for about 9 - 10 minutes or until medium rare. Stand covered in foil for 5 minutes. Slice thickly.
• In saucepan, bring juice, stock, spices, garlic, honey (I used sugarless maple syrup), and liqueur to a boil, Gently boil, reduce by half. Whisk in butter (cut in small pieces) in piece by piece.
• To make caramelised oranges, pour away any excess duck fat from frypan. Add ornages and sprinkle caster sugar (I used Splenda) Cook over medium heat until caramelised. Remove from heat when just starting to turn broan.
• To serve, spoon cabbage onto 4 plates. Tope with duck. Spoon sauce over and place orange segments on top. Garnish with fresh herbs if desired.
• NOTE: Check cabbage while cooking, if starts to stick add more water or stock.
• NOTE: When you pour the sauce over the duck, need to be careful (if worried about presentation) not to pour too much into/onto the cabbage as the juice from the cabbage will bled pinkish on the plate.
• NOTE: This recipe IS great! Don't be shy to try, as I had never made before today!