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Duck for dinner, darling?

If you've never cooked the bird before, here's some inspiration for the next time you want to try meat that's not chicken

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Traditional Duck Confit
Serves: 2
Marination: 12 hrs
Prep time: 1.5 hrs
Ingredients
¼ cup kosher salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 large duck legs
½ tsp black
peppercorn
10 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups rendered duck fat or lard
To serve:
15 gm butter
50 gm oyster mushroom, sliced
50 gm sweet onion, sliced
1 tsp garlic, chopped
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
Pinch of chopped parsley, to garnish
300 ml vegetable oil, for frying
100 gm potato, sliced into 1 cm pieces
3 raspberries,
to garnish
Method
For the confit, mix salt with sugar in a bowl. Rub a good amount of the mixture all over the duck legs.
In another bowl, place the legs on top of each other, layering with peppercorn and thyme. Sprinkle with any remaining salt. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours. Then, unpack and wipe off any salt and spices with a paper towel; pat dry.
Melt the fat in a pot just big enough to hold the legs. Submerge the duck completely in the fat and simmer very slowly for 1.5 hours, until the meat browns and is very tender.
Remove from heat and allow duck to cool in the fat until required.
Melt butter in a skillet, then add mushrooms and onions, and sauté until soft. Add garlic, salt, pepper and parsley. Set aside.
Heat oil in a large skillet and add potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook over high heat, shaking the skillet and stirring gently for about 12 minutes.
Toss the potatoes in the skillet and sprinkle with more parsley.
Serve potatoes, mushrooms and onions on a plate with the duck legs on top, garnished with fresh raspberries.

Duck Confit Burger
Serves: 1
Marination: 12 hours
Prep time: 30 mins
Ingredients
1 duck confit leg
Oil, as required
2 large white onions, diced well
Pinch of salt
2 ml honey
5 ml balsamic
1 brioche bun
3 gm mustard
1 fresh fig
10 gm goat's cheese
3 cloves garlic
Dash of parsley
5 gm wild rocca
Method
Prepare the duck confit leg as in the previous recipe.
For the caramelised onion, heat oil in a large frying pan over low heat. Add diced onions and a good pinch of salt; cook very slowly for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Tip: Don't be tempted to turn the heat up, as you don't want the onions to burn.)
When onions are softened and tinged golden, add a bit of honey and balsamic to start the caramelisation process. Cook onion over low heat for 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until sticky and caramelised. Set aside once done.
For the duck, place the confit leg on a chopping board and use two forks to pull the meat apart. Set aside. Place the bottom bun of the brioche on a serving plate, spread caramelised onion on the bottom and mustard on the other half of the bun.
Place sliced fig on top of the caramelised onions, then add the pulled duck meat and a few slices of goat's cheese.
Top with fresh wild rocca. Cover with top bun and serve immediately with skinny fries (optional).

Foie Gras
Serves: 2
Marination: 12 hrs
Prep time: 2 hrs
Plating time: 10 mins
Ingredients
200 gm foie gras
3 slices fig bread
5 gm sugar
Salt to taste
White pepper to taste
5 gm four spice
10 strawberries
5 ml lemon
20 gm butter
Method
Devein the foie gras and season with sugar, salt, white pepper and quatro (four) spice. Marinate for 12 hours.
Preheat the oven to 100°C and cook the marinated foie gras for about 5 mins.
After cooking, place foie gras in a rectangular container and refrigerate for a few hours.
For the strawberry confit: place a pan over fairly low heat.
Add strawberries and sugar, and allow the sugar to dissolve slowly. Give the pan a shake from time to time, but only very gentle stirs, as you don't want to break up the fruit.
To check if the sugar is dissolved, lift up the spoon and, if there are no little crystals of sugar visible on it, the mixture is ready to boil.
Turn the heat up to its highest setting, add lemon juice and as soon as the mixture is up to what old-fashioned cooks used to call a rolling boil, put the timer on for 8 minutes exactly.
When the time is up, remove the mixture from the heat and allow the confit to cool down. Chill in the fridge.
To serve: place the sliced fig bread in a toaster. Meanwhile, remove the chilled foie gras from the container and cut into 3 rectangular slices.
Draw a balsamic line on the middle of the plate, then lay the foie gras slices on one side and place chilled strawberry confit on the other.
Season foie gras slices with a dash of salt and pepper to taste.
Place the toasted fig bread on the side. Enjoy.

Magret De Canard
Serves: 1
Prep time: 30 mins
Ingredients
5 gm butter
5 button mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
Pinch of salt
Pinch of black pepper
Pinch of parsley, chopped
200 ml chicken broth
100 ml olive oil
1 large potato, sliced
150 gm duck breast
Rosemary, to garnish
Method
Melt butter in a skillet, then add sliced button mushrooms and onions and sauté.
Cook until soft, then add chopped garlic and a pinch of salt, pepper and parsley. Set aside.
For the sauce, cook chicken broth in a pan on low heat until reduced.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet and fry the sliced potatoes. Once golden and cooked, remove and sprinkle with salt, pepper and chopped parsley. Set aside.
Season the duck breast with salt and pepper, then pan-fry on both sides until desired temperature (tip: best served medium rare).
Arrange potatoes, mushrooms and onions on a plate. Slice the duck breast and lay it on top of the potatoes. Cover with sauce.
Season with black pepper and garnish with a sprig of rosemary.
Serve immediately.

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