Duck Au Vin
By Gameford Lodge - www.saveurduck.com
If you have the time, you can marinate the duck legs in the red wine, thyme, bay leaf, garlic for a few hours before making the casserole.
Serves 4
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Ingredients
4 ducks legs, trimmed of excess fat, scored around the hock
1 tbsp oil
2 slices of bacon chopped
1 onion chopped
1 stick of celery chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
a few sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp flour
1 cup chicken stock
500 ml red wine
Method
Pat dry the skin of the duck legs, score the skin & season.
In a medium fry pan, place duck legs skin side down and very gently fry the legs to render out the fat. Don't rush this bit, as you want as much fat rendered out at this point, to avoid the final dish being too fatty. When legs are finished rendering, drain on paper towels, before putting in the casserole.
While the duck legs are rendering, heat the oil in a heavy based casserole and fry off the bacon, onion, celery, carrot, garlic until soft. Add the herbs, mix in the tomato paste & flour and stir for about 2 minutes.
Add the wine and bring to the boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the stock and return to the simmer. Add the duck legs and season casserole with salt & pepper.
Cover the casserole with tinfoil and a lid and cook at a gentle simmer for about 1.5 hours or until the duck is well cooked. Turn the duck once or twice during cooking. Ensure the liquid level is well maintained. Add more stock & wine in equal quantities if liquid level drops too low. It is important to have a lot of liquid at the end of cooking.
When the duck legs are cooked to tender, remove and keep warm. Remove the herbs & bay leaf and discard. Return the casserole to the heat and reduce the liquid to a thick pouring sauce.
Serve the duck on wilted silverbeet greens and pour over the sauce.