In my kitchen: Ducks deluxe.

THIS is a plate of six separate components from Paul Talling’s ducks, reared just outside Harome – all, that is, except the foie gras which comes from further afield, and some of the eggs from Sim and Josie Barker’s farm, Aby Green, round the corner from the pub, down past the duck pond. The sauce, a traditional classic, is found in the Repertoire de la Cuisine, a little book of biblical qualities for any chef. The orange and port based sauce is a perfect partner to the rich, fatty duck. It’s Duck à l’Orange all over again.

Ingredients

Serves: 4

You will need: 4 duck legs; 1 ltr duck fat; 2 duck breasts; 200ml red wine; 4 duck eggs; 100g redcurrant jelly; 300g duck foie gras; 150g sugar; 4 duck chipolatas; 500g mashed potato; 10g lemon thyme; 100g butter; 1 orange; 100ml cream; 1 bayleaf; a little white wine vinegar; 1 star anise; 100ml duck jus.

Method

Confit the duck legs in the duck fat with the star anise and bayleaf in an oven for two-and-a-half hours at 140°C. Peel the orange and cut the peel into julienne strips removing all the white. Place in a pan with the red wine, sugar and redcurrant jelly. Juice the left-over orange and add to the pan as well. Reduce until it becomes syrup, and add the duck jus.

Once the duck legs have cooled down, split the thigh and the drumstick, then put onto a baking tray. Boil the potatoes, drain and mash. Reduce 100g of butter and 100ml cream by half and add to the mash. Season. Add the lemon thyme leaves and keep warm. Grill the chipolatas until just cooked and put on the baking tray with the leg and thigh.

Pan-fry the duck breasts until the skin is crispy. Place on the tray and then in a preheated oven at 190°C for five minutes.

Meanwhile, reheat the mash and put into a piping bag, poach the duck eggs in simmering water with a little white wine vinegar for about three minutes, keep warm. Pan-fry the foie gras until it becomes spongy. Pipe five turrets of mash around the outside of the plate and one in the centre. Place each ingredient on one of the mashed potato turrets, slice and save the duck breast for the centre of the plate, drizzle the Yorkshire sauce around and over the dish ingredients. Serve immediately.

Andrew Pern is chef at The Star at Harom. Recipe taken from Black Pudding and Foie Gras by Andrew Pern.