A delightful dish from the head chef at Belfast's acclaimed Shu restaurant.
Ingredients
- 4 fresh male duck legs
- 1 l duck fat
- for salt mix:
- 100 g rock salt
- 4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
- 100 g fresh thyme (chopped)
- 25 g white peppercorns
- zest of 1 orange
- 1 star anise
- 2 cloves
- for the mash:
- 1 kg peeled maris piper potatoes
- 100 g butter
- 100 ml milk
- salt and pepper
- for the red wine sauce:
- 250 ml red wine
- 100 ml beef stock
- 1 shallot
- 4 mushrooms
- 1 clove garlic
- sprig of thyme
- knob of butter
- for the garnish:
- 200 g savoy cabbage (blanched)
- 400 g mixed mushrooms
- 1 clove garlic
- 25 g butter
- 1 sprig of thyme
Method
- For the Duck:
- Preheat oven to 130°C
- Remove the thigh bones. Mix all the salt ingredients together and rub well into the duck legs and marinate for 24 hours.
- Bring duck fat to the boil and remove from heat.
- Wipe the salt mix from duck legs and place in an oven-proof pan or casserole dish. Pour the duck fat over the duck legs, ensuring the duck legs are completely covered with the fat.
- Place into the oven for 5 hours until the meat is falling off the bone.
- Leave the meat to cool for an hour before serving. (At this stage the French would be happy to keep the confit for months before eating!)
- For the Mash:
- Chop potatoes evenly (about 2.5cm thick)
- Place in a pan, rinse then cover with salted water.
- Bring to the boil then simmer- cook until soft, strain the potatoes and leave for a few minutes.
- Mash the potatoes. Add the butter and milk.
- Add a spoon of Pommery (coarse-grain) mustard
- Season to taste.
- For the Red Wine Sauce:
- Slice the shallot, garlic and mushrooms.
- Heat the pan. Add butter and vegetables – season to taste and sweat until vegetables are soft.
- Add the red wine - reduce by 2/3.
- Add the beef stock, boil and reduce until correct consistency (it should coat the back of a spoon).
- Pass through a sieve and add a knob of butter taste.
- For the Mushrooms: Cook the mushrooms in a hot pan with butter, garlic and thyme - season and taste
- To Serve: Warm the duck if necessary, to melt the fat.
- Remove and place the duck legs in a frying pan of hot oil (about 1 cm deep) skin side down until crisp.
- Place the mash at the top of the plate, the mushrooms and cabbage at the bottom of the plate – place the duck on top of the cabbage and mushrooms. Pour the sauce around the duck.
