First things first. I like duck slightly less pink than it probably should be – it’s not a visual thing or textural…I just likes it that way 🙂

Duck is becoming more and more financially accesable, and is moving rapidly away from the standard bearers of Duck a’lorange or Crispy Duck pancakes. This is a great outdoor dish and should be served ‘warm’ rather than hot from the pan so feel free to prep the ingredients then you can faff around and finish off the vino before you need worry about feeding anyone.

2 plates:
2 Duck breasts – best quality you can get your mits on
2 medium sized courgette – sliced on the angle
2 medium sized cooked spuds – sliced
8-10 cherry tomatoes
Cool looking salad leaves – not butter head or iceburge pleeeease
Splash of red wine vinegar, pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper

This dish is a ‘prep all’ then arrange when you’re ready – classic pro-kitchen stuff.

Duck: shallow slashes along the skin side, helps speed of cooking. Drop in a dry hot pan and brown the skin well. Flip over and colour. Through into a hot oven and cook to your own preference – as with steak give the duck a good feelin’ up to gauge. Take out and leave to rest when done – remember this is a warm dish not hot so leave as long as you want. Slice as you want to to see pic above.

Drain some of the duck fat from the pan, lash in the courgette and cook until just holding their firmness. Take out and drain on kitchen paper. Lash in the spuds and colour, remove and set aside with the courgette.

When you’re ready to serve – cut the cherry tomatoes in half and sling into the same pan that everything else has been cooked in. Bring them down and then add a few splashes of red wine vingar and some sugar. Regulate the taste here by dipping your finger (or a spoon) in – you want a sweet and sour type of kick to these tomatoes – when you get there take them out and set aside.

Now get the spuds and courgette back in the pan for a little warm through, arrange on a plate with the salad leaves, set the duck on top then finish with the tomato sauce.

Open more wine.