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Roast duck with blackberry Port sauce

Serves 4

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 3 hours 30 min, plus overnight chilling time

Cooking Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

For the brine:

80 g pink rock salt
1 litre water
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
4 cardamom
1 Woolworths free-range duck with Chinese 5-spice
2 lemons, zested
2 oranges, zested
2 limes, zested
4 T honey, heated with 2 sprigs fresh thyme

For the blackberry, Port and thyme sauce:

reserved duck or chicken bones from a previous roast (optional)
1 T vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, roughly chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
3 baby leeks , roughly chopped
1 sprig fresh rosemary
3 sprigs fresh thyme
3 x 160 g punnets Woolworths blackberries
¼ cup Port
¼ cup brandy
½ cup stock
2 T butter

Method

1. Mix the brine ingredients in a large bowl, then add the duck. Set aside for 3 hours.

2. Remove the duck from the brine and pat dry with kitchen paper. Combine the 5-spice mix with the citrus zest and rub over the brined duck. Chill uncovered overnight. (This step makes the duck really succulent and rich in flavour).

3. To roast the duck, preheat your oven to its highest temperature (or 250°C). Lightly score the duck’s skin using a sharp knife and roast for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 180°C, then roast for a further 10 minutes until the internal temperature reads 65–68°C. Remove from the oven and glaze with the heated honey and thyme. Allow to rest before carving.

4. While the duck is roasting, make the sauce. Roast the bones (if using) at 220°C until they start to caramelise. Heat the oil in a hot pan, then add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the carrot, garlic, leeks, rosemary, duck bones and 2 punnets blackberries and fry until cooked.

5. Add the Port, brandy and stock and cook until the ingredients are soft and the sauce has thickened. Strain the sauce through a sieve, add the remaining blackberries and butter, then stir to heat through. Drizzle over the carved duck.

Cook’s note: Roast the duck directly on the oven’s rack with a drip tray at the bottom of the oven to collect the duck fat as it renders.

Find more duck recipes here

Videographer: Romy Wilson

Photographer: Jan Ras

Food Assistant: Bianca Jones

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Roast duck with blackberry Port sauce

Ingredients

Method