Duck with Sour Cherry Confit(4)
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. When ready to cook wipe the duck as dry as possible again with kitchen paper. Using a small skewer, prick the fatty bits of the duck’s skin, particularly between the legs and the breast. Place the duck on the roasting rack in roasting tin measuring 9 x 11x 2 inches. Season with coarse sea salt and freshly milled black pepper, using quite a lot of salt, as this encourages crunchiness.
  2. Place the tin on the centre shelf of the pre-heated oven and roast the duck for 1 hour and 50 minutes. During the cooking time, using an oven glove to protect your hands, remove the tin from the oven and drain the fat from the corner of the tin – do this about 3 times (the fat is great for roast potatoes, so don’t throw it away).
  3. Meanwhile make the confit. Place the soaked cherries and wine in a saucepan, along with the sugar and wine vinegar. Bring the mixture up to a gentle simmer, give it a good stir and let it barely simmer, without a lid, for 50 minutes to 1 hour, stirring from time to time. The wine will slowly reduce so there’s only about 3 tablespoons of free liquid left.
  4. When the cooking time is up, allow the duck to rest for 20 minutes or so, then carve and serve garnished with the fresh watercress, with the sour-cherry confit poured over each portion and the rest handed round separately in a jug.