Confit
- 4 duck leg and thigh portions
- ½ cup chopped thyme
- ¼ cup chopped sage
- ¼ cup chopped basil
- ¼ cup chopped rosemary
- 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 250g fresh chopped ginger
- 4 tbsp salt flakes
- 20 black peppercorns
- 2l duck fat
Merlot Jus
- 1litre quality stock, preferably game but beef will suffice
- 400ml Merlot
- 180g Damson Plum Jelly
- 10ml olive oil
- 2 onions finely diced
- 2 carrots finely diced
- 4 sprigs rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 vanilla pod, halved and seeds scraped out
- 250g plums, halved and stones removed
- 250g salted butter
Confit
Add together the herbs, garlic, peppercorns, sea salt, ginger and duck legs. Allow to marinate for 24 hours.
Wash the salt mixture from the duck legs and arrange them in a roasting tray. Cover them completely with duck fat. Place the tray in a 100°C-preheated oven for about 4 hours until the meat is easily released from the bone.
Allow to cool in the duck fat and refrigerate until needed. Before serving, preheat the oven to 240°C and remove the duck legs from the fat. Position each leg skin side up on a roasting tray under the grill to ensure a crispy skin.
Merlot Jus
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the carrots and onions until golden. Add the herbs, plums and vanilla, and deglaze with the red wine and Damson Plum Jelly. Reduce the wine mixture by half over a low heat, then add the stock and reduce it by half again. Strain through a fine strainer into a clean saucepan. Check the seasoning and whisk the butter into the sauce, a little at a time, on a very low heat without boiling.
To serve, place the duck leg on a warmed plate and drizzle over the Merlot and Plum Jus.
Serves 4