Valentine Warner's crispy roast duck leg with cooling cucumber recipe
- 2 medium duck legs, preferably Freedom Food, approx 200g
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp flaked sea salt
- 1 medium cucumber peeled, halved lengthways, deseeded and chopped to 5ml thickness
- 0.5 tsp coriander seeds, or whole one if not using caraway
- 0.5 tsp caraway seeds
- 1 dash oil
- 0.5 small white onion
- 0.5 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp whole grain mustard
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tsp salt
- Preheat the oven to 180C / fan oven 160C / Gas Mark 4.
- Cut through all skin and tendons around ankle of duck leg.
- Rub a little sunflower oil into the duck legs and season with the dried thyme and a little of the salt.
- Put them on a small baking tray or frying pan with a heat resistant handle and put them in the oven for 1 hour and twenty minutes or until very tender.
- Put the cucumber in a colander and mix through with the salt.
- Leave to drain over the sink for half an hour.
- When ready, wring out the cucumber with your hand to extract as much excess water as possible.
- In the meantime tip the seeds into a small saucepan and jostle them around until a faintly toasted smell comes to the nose.
- Now add a dash of oil and sweat the onions over a medium heat for 5 minutes or so.
- Stir in the turmeric and cook for a further minute before adding the vinegar.
- Boil rapidly until the onions appear moist rather than wet.
- Take off the heat and add the remaining ingredients.
- When cool, add the cucumbers and stir through the vinaigrette thoroughly.
- Leave to sit for ten minutes or so.
- Remove the duck from the oven.
- Spread a decent pile of the cucumber over the plate and place the crispy duck leg on top.
- Good eaten with new potatoes tossed with butter, some salt and pepper and maybe a little chopped dill.
duck legs, sunflower oil, thyme, salt, cucumber, coriander seeds, caraway seeds, oil, white onion, turmeric, grain mustard, white wine vinegar, mustard, white sugar, salt
Taken from www.lovefood.com/guide/recipes/22976/valentine-warners-crispy-roast-duck-leg-with-cooling-cucumber-recipe (may not work)