Braised Mallard with Black Peas

Name: Braised Mallard with Black Peas
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon thyme leaves; 2 oven-ready mallards; a good knob of butter; 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped; 2 juniper berries, crushed; 80 g black peas (maple peas or carlings), soaked overnight in cold water; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 2 teaspoons plain flour; 250 ml medium cider; 350 ml hot chicken stock with ½ teaspoon baking powder added; 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

British Seasonal Food

By Mark Hix

Published 2008

About

You could make this dish with any of the wild duck family except perhaps teal, which are quite delicate and better given a brief roasting. Black peas, often called maple peas or carlings, are a bit of a rarity and generally only found up North. If you are struggling to find them, a good alternative would be whole dried green peas.

Ingredients

80 g black peas (maple peas or carlings), soaked overnight in cold water
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2

Method

Rinse the black peas and put them into a pan of lightly salted fresh water. Bring to the boil and simmer for an hour or so until tender, then drain in a colander.

Halve the mallards lengthways through the backbone and breast and set aside.

Heat the butter in a heavy-based saucepan and gently cook the onion with the juniper and thyme for 2-3 minutes until soft. Stir in the flour