Duck Recipes :: Duck Legs Braised With Apples

After years of frustration at being unable to cook a crispy duck to my satisfaction, I recently worked out how to cook duck breast and have been experimenting using a similar technique with other duck parts, in this case duck legs and thighs.

Basically, cooking the duck very, very slowly and draining the fat off as you go is the secret and this is my latest experiment which turned out extremely well. Duck legs braised in apples and onions. It is sort of a bastardized French duck recipe, but adapted to what I had in the pantry on the day. It is a very simple duck recipe also.

I use a cast iron skillet for much of my cooking and you will need two for this if you serve the duck with the same accompaniment as I did - mustard coated sautéed carrots, steamed asparagus and mashed potatoes.

• 1 large apple
• 1 large onion
• 1 pint chicken stock
• 4 duck quarters
• Salt and pepper
• Bottle of rose wine.
  

First - open the wine, pour a glass and sip. Next - place the duck portions skin side down in a cold cast iron skillet and sprinkle with a good helping of salt and pepper. Then turn the heat on very, very low and allow the pan to slowly come up to cooking temperature. As the fat is rendered, skim off and keep in a container. I use the fat to cook roast potatoes in - the best taste as far as I am concerned.

While the legs are cooking, slice the onion and apple like so, remove the apple core as well.

When the duck is almost cooked (around 30 minutes) and is going crispy, drain the fat off, remove the legs and add the onion and apple to the skillet.

Now add the duck legs back - turned over so that the skin is up. then add the stock to the skillet. In my case - I was using frozen home made chicken stock, which is why you see ice cubes.

Cook for another 30 minutes or so until the legs look like this. They go really crispy.

When the duck is finished, remove the legs, place a portion of apple/onion gravy on the plate and then place a duck quarter on top, like so:

As the duck was being cooked, I steamed some asparagus, made mashed potatoes and sautéed some thinly sliced carrots in butter, honey and wholegrain Dijon mustard. This is the finished dish.

Bon Apetit!