Confit duck leg with Savoy cabbage, long-pepper cream sauce and caramelised Bramley apples

I’m still in the process of using up all the bits o’me duck. Duck legs next. Confit leg of duck with caramelised apple and long-pepper sauce, to be exact. I love me a duck leg.

The legs were French-trimmed and salt-cured in the fridge. After 6 hours the legs were thoroughly rinsed, patted dry then submerged in duck fat with an onion, carrot, a cinnamon stick, star anise, bay leaves, sprigs of rosemary, plus a splash of Chablis to help prevent frying. Into the oven at 120C with a cartouche on the surface of the fat. The legs were allowed to cool in the fat and then rescued while still warm.

A duck jus was made from the trimmings. Some veal stock was added with a sprig of rosemary, brought to the boil, and reduced. Long peppers were dropped in later on and left to infuse. Double cream was added to finish, with seasoning to taste.

Apple batons were carefully tossed in clarified butter until they developed a slight golden colour. Apple juice was added in small amounts, slowly glazing the batons as the water boiled away each time. These became really delicate little bleeders and required all my dexterity and attention to extract each baton from the pan in one piece. I squidged, snapped and dropped a lot. The batons took on a wonderful deep orange but the air was blue. I think I’ll use the firmer Granny Smith next time, and not Bramleys.

Savoy cabbage leaves were blanched and finished a la minute in a little butter.

Confit duck legs waiting to have their skin crisped under the grill

To serve, the duck skin was crisped under the grill. Bloody risky stuff. No grill gives off consistent heat; there are always hot spots. I got a few scorch marks but the skin was crispy and not burnt. Phew. Annoyingly I should’ve used foil to protect the exposed French-trimmed bone. Doofus. I think I’ll try pan-fry the skin next time. Savoy leaves were piled up in the centre of the plate and the leg was placed on top. Luscious creamy sauce was poured at the front. I had some tart apple purée leftover from an earlier foie gras dish so a few drops went onto the skin to hold the caramelised apple batons in place. Mustard leaves to garnish.

Not a bad looking plate.

And freakin’ delicious. Honestly, I was gobsmacked at just how lip-smackingly yum it was. Oh that leg meat! Succulent. Tender. Fragrant. Falling off the bone. I could taste the aromats from the confit. And that sauce. Ooof! This dish is definitely a keeper. And proper nosh for a homemade valentine’s dinner. I’ll definitely be cooking this at a dinner party coming soon, that’s for sure.

Confit duck leg meat falling off the bone

In between the duck breast with beetroot and chocolate, and the duck legs, I knocked out a quick breakfast—duck liver on a sourdough crouton with Armagnac cream sauce. Quite lovely and totally different to the usual fare I dish up in the morning. The sauce started with shallots sweated in butter. Armagnac was added and reduced until almost dry, then chicken stock added and reduced by half. The sauce was finished with double cream, reduced to a coating consistency. The liver was caramelised in a hot pan until golden brown and served soft and slightly pink in the middle.

Almost done. Lastly a more adventurous experiment with the duck gizzards. I had these gamey little fellas disgorging in iced water overnight to extract the blood, then brining for 2 days in a wet mix of salt, sugar, garlic, thyme and black peppercorns. A quick trim with a very sharp knife removed the outer sinews. Not as easy as it sounds! Gizzards are like Flubber on steroids. They’re solid rubber-like nuggets that feel hard under the knife.

The gizzards were rinsed and cooked confit in duck fat until tender. It’s a confit fest, actually—leek confit, slices of white mushrooms cooked confit. I’d baked a puff pastry bomb—that’s what I’m calling it—and pushed the top in to form a crater. It was loaded with leek confit and slices of gizzard and mushroom were arranged on top with a squirt of orange purée at the centre. Mustard leaves to garnish.

To make the orange purée, scored whole oranges were blanched multiple times, jumping between boiling water and ice bath. And it’s necessary to boil fresh water each time. This process reduces the bitterness in the zests and pith. The oranges were cut in half, any pips removed, then added to a light caramel, which was deglazed with sherry vinegar, then orange juice. The oranges were cooked until soft, the whole lot blitzed, and then passed through a chinois. Onto the plate and swoosh with the back of a spoon. Fancy, eh?

Confit duck leg