Roast duck with cherry sauce

Confession: This is the first time I've ever cooked duck. I've certainly eaten plenty of it in restaurants - it's usually what I order because I never cook it. But......I came across this recipe and decided to give the old quack quack a go.

The sauce is an absolute cracker and wouldn't be out of place on the Christmas table.

Really delicious!

Roast duck with cherry sauce

Serves 2

2 duck breasts, skin on

Sea salt

Olive oil to grease pan

Side dish of cous cous

3/4 cup dry cous cous

1/4 bunch of flat leaf parsley

1/4 cup pistachios

1/2 lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons butter

Sauce

1 whole orange zested and juiced

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 teaspoon finely grated ginger

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup port

1/4 cup water

Approx 20 fresh cherries, pips removed (slice around the pip if you don't have a pip remover as they don't need to be whole)

Place all sauce ingredients in a saucepan on high heat. Bring to the boil for 1 minute then simmer for 15 minutes on a low heat, until cherries are soft. Set aside for 30 minutes and allow sauce to thicken.

Served with Cous cous and pistachios, parsley and lemon

Take 3/4 cup of dry cous cous in a bowl and add 3/4 cup boiling water. Cover for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, chop 1/4 bunch of flat leaf parsley and 1/4 cup unsalted pistachios. Take the remaining half a lemon and squeeze juice into the cous cous. Add 2 tablespoons butter and stir all ingredients together. Cover and set aside until duck is ready.

The duck

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celcius.

Taking a sharp knife score the duck fat on the breast 1cm apart. Take some sea salt and lightly

rub into the fat. Place duck skin side down in a HOT pan for 4-5 minutes until well browned. Turn over and cook for 1 minute then place on a rack or tray into the pre-heated oven for 10 minutes. The skin should be crispy, the duck meat cooked medium.

Now reheat sauce on a low heat until warm. Reheat cous cous in the microwave if necessary.

Put cous cous on a plate and place the duck breast on top, either sliced or whole. Pour sauce over the duck and serve immediately.

Enjoy!