Duck with sour cherry chutney, roast potatoes and stir fry cabbage & bacon

Today, after a heavy session of present wrapping, I felt we needed a special supper.  I had found a lovely 2.5k reduced price Gressingham Duck and this was to be the centre piece.  I decided on Duck with Sour Cherry chutney, as I had all the ingredients to hand!


Recipe (will serve 2 with some duck left over)


1 x 2.5k Gressingham Duck


Sour Cherry Chutney


2 tbs olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
75g dried sour cherries
50 ml balsamic vinegar
350g jar of Morello cherry conserve
1 star anise


Roast Potatoes (as many as you like!)


Cabbage and Bacon


Savoy cabbage, halved and cored, then finely sliced
100g pack of Lardons


Pierce the skin of the duck all over with a skewer.  Place the duck on a rack in the kitchen sink, and pour over 2 full kettles of boiling water.  Pat dry with a kitchen roll.  This will release the fat under the skin of the duck so you end up with a crisp, non fatty result.


Put the duck on a rack on your large roasting tin, season with sea salt and freshly milled black pepper.  Put in on the bottom rungs of the roasting oven, and roast for 1 hour 30 mins.  Then remove it to Simmering Oven to rest.  


Meanwhile, peel, halve and par boil your potatoes, drain, return to pan, replace lid and shake - hard.  Tip into the roasting tin underneath the duck in the fat and roll them around then to roast for 1 hour.  Once you have removed the duck to the Simmering oven to rest, move the potatoes up to the top of the Roasting oven.


Heat the oil in a pan on the simmering plate, then soften the onion for about 10 mins.  Add the remaining ingredients for the sauce, bring up to a simmer.  Pop on lid and put in Simmering oven to continue to cook until you need it.


To serve the duck, turn it over and with a good pair of kitchen scissors, cut either side of the backbone and remove it.  Turn the duck back over and flatten it slightly now remove the legs as you would a chicken.  Now remove the breast, with a sharp knife, cut along either side of the breastbone, keeping your knife close to the bone and ease the breast meat away from the bone.  


Heat some oil in a wok and fry the lardons on the simmering plate until they release their fat.  Then move over to the roasting plate.  Tip in the finely sliced savoy cabbage, and stir fry until bacon is crisp and cabbage is coated.