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The perfect roast to soothe your shattered nerves
There’s nothing better than a rich roasted duck and vegetables to bring calm to your life, writes Clare Latimer
AS I sit with the door open for the first time this year, looking into my garden with my chickens scratching around in the flower beds, the thing that has been driving me mad all winter has now doubled and truly come home to roost.
I am talking about the wretched alarms on the lifts that are hanging off the high rise towers along Adelaide Road.
I saw that a few of our readers had complained but nothing seems to have been done so this week, not only am I going to have a grumble but also I am going to give two ‘calming recipes’ in the hope that anyone living in this area can soothe their nerves with a good dish of food!
Duck with Apple Sauce
A crisp succulent bird, well-cooked and nestling in a luxurious bed of vegetables, accompanied by a tart apple sauce to cut through the richness – this is the perfect roast.
Duck is often a forgotten dish when served whole and I think it is best very well cooked so that most of the fat has drained from the flesh and then the meat falls off the bones. Serve with mashed potatoes.
Ingredients
Serves 4
1.6kg duckling;
Few sprigs rosemary;
Half lemon;
One tbsp runny honey;
Salt and freshly ground black pepper;
225g okra, halved;
One small celeriac, peeled and diced;
One med aubergine, topped, quartered and sliced;
For the apple sauce
Two large Bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced;
Sugar to taste;
Splash Calvados (optional).
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C, 400°F, Gas Mark 6.
Prick the bird all over with a fork. Stuff the cavity with the rosemary and lemon, put the duck on a wire rack in a roasting tin and place in the oven for 30 minutes.
Remove the wire rack and drain off the fat. Spread the honey over the skin of the duck and sprinkle it with salt and pepper.
Put the duck in the middle of the roasting tin and surround it with the prepared vegetables.
Cook for a further hour in the oven or until the duck is well browned and crisp, tossing the vegetables once or twice to coat them with the duck fat.
Meanwhile, to make the sauce, put the apples and sugar in a saucepan and cook very slowly for about 10 minutes.
If the apples stick, add a little water. When the apple is soft, mash it with a wooden spoon and stir in the Calvados, if using.
When the duck is cooked, place it on a warmed serving dish with the vegetables and serve the apple sauce alongside.
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