Wild Duck with Blackberries – Recipes

This recipe utilises one of those great pairings. Blackberries and Duck! Although not as famous as other pairings such as Pork and Apple, or Beef and Horseradish it should be as the two ingredients sit together as if they have been together since cooking began. If you have been lucky to have been given some wild duck, please please take some time to go and get some Wild Blackberries as the farmed shop bought varieties simply won’t cut it.

Wild Duck with Blackberries

Ingredients

1 Wild Duck (no more than ½ Kg in weight)

1 Small Onion

1 Carrot

1 Stick of Celery

Tbsp Butter

2 Tsp Sugar

250g Blackberries

1 Tsp Elderberry Vinegar (Red Wine Vinegar if you haven’t got it)

125ml Red Wine

Olive Oil

Maldon Salt

Black Pepper

From the Garden

Small Handful of Thyme

If you are lucky enough to get hold of a Mallard this dish is surprisingly quick and makes for a great late summer / autumn supper.

Preheat the oven to 230 degrees

Season your duck inside and out, prick the skin and then very lightly oil the skin, place in the metal roasting dish. Now roughly chop your Onion, Carrot and Celery and add these to the pan around the duck and place a sprig of Thyme in the ducks cavity. Roast for 25 minutes.

Remove the duck from the pan and place on a warmed plate, covering in a sheet of foil and allow to rest.

Now add the sugar and butter to the vegetables and on the hob cook until the vegetables are crispy and brown. Now add half of the Blackberries, allow to burst and then reduce the liquid by half. Now add the vinegar again reducing the liquid by half before moving onto the next stage.

We are going to use the duck legs and wine to flavour the sauce so return to the duck and using a sharp knife remove the legs. Break the flesh on the legs so that the gravy can penetrate and then add them to the sauce adding the wine to the gravy as well.

Now whilst stirring and massaging the ingredients into the sauce cook the sauce at a simmer for 15 minutes, at this point check the seasoning and correct if necessary and add the remaining chopped Thyme.

Strain the sauce into another saucepan – keeping it warm.

Carve the duck breast into slices and place onto two warm plates.

Before serving add the remaining Blackberries to the sauce allow to warm through and then pour the sauce over the sliced duck breast. Serve this with an irony green cabbage and potatoes roasted in duck fat!

Is your belly rumbling yet? I apologise, it made me hungry reading it back too!! Enjoy!

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