Slow cooked duck with plums

I have been fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of several dozen tiny wee duck legs and a handful of breasts, kindly shared with me by one of our friendly engineers here at F&P.  When this month’s theme was decided upon I thought the duck an apt ingredient with which to create a hearty mid-winter Christmas main.  The dark red plums add a sweetness and depth to the dish which is beautifully complemented by the smokyness of the bacon.

*I used wild duck, the legs of which are tiny.  So if you are buying your duck then just use 6 legs and 6 breasts.

Ingredients

Serves 10

• --
• 5 duck breasts
• 12 duck legs
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• Olive oil
• 6 rashers streaky bacon, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp thyme, leaves removed from stalks
• 7 sage leaves, finely chopped
• 1 sprig rosemary, leaves removed and chopped
• 4 cups chicken stock
• ½ cup plum juice, from tinned plums
• 1 bottle red wine, I used pinot noir
• 7 tinned plums, stones removed, cut in half.

Method

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• 1. Brown the meat on all sides. Do this is batches so that the meat has room and does not begin to stew. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• 2. Using the same (unwashed) pan, heat a little olive oil and then sauté the onion and garlic. Give it a good ten minutes and then add the bacon and the herbs. Fry on low heat for a further 5-10 minutes.
• 3. Lastly add the duck back to the pan the pour over the stock, plum juice and the red wine. Cover and leave to slowly cook for 2 hours or until the duck begins to fall off the bone.
• 4. Serve over Sara's creamy polenta.