Roast duck with lavender honey, turnips, parsnips and raisins

Name: Roast duck with lavender honey, turnips, parsnips and raisins
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: 4 tbsp lavender flowers (fresh or dried); 4 tbsp lavender flowers (fresh or dried); 4 tbsp lavender flowers (fresh or dried); ½ tsp cracked black peppercorns; 1 tbsp thyme leaves; 1 x 2 kg (4½ lb) whole duck; 1 tsp coarse sea salt; 800 ml (28 fl oz/3½ cups) brown chicken stock; 100 ml (3½ fl oz/scant ½ cup) good-quality red wine vinegar; 2 tbsp lavender honey or clear honey; 2 tbsp lavender honey or clear honey; 25 g (scant 1 oz/1¾ tbsp) unsalted butter; 4 parsnips, cut into 4 lengthways; 400 g (14 oz) baby turnips, trimmed; 1 tbsp light brown sugar; 2 tbsp red wine vinegar; 500 ml (16 fl oz/generous 2 cups) brown chicken stock; 50 g (1¾ oz/scant ⅔ cup) raisins, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes, then drained

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Chicken and Other Birds

By Paul Gayler

Published 2015

About

You may have a few reservations about cooking a dish using duck with lavender, but this recipe will soon convert you. The resulting sauce has a wonderful rich flavour and the sweet-and-sour caramelised root vegetables help balance the dish to perfection.

Ingredients

4 tbsp lavender flowers (fresh or dried)
1 tbsp thyme leaves</

Main course
Gluten-free

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/Gas 6).

Place the lavender flowers in a mortar with the thyme, peppercorns and sea salt. Grind to a powder.

With a knife, lightly score the duck breasts in a criss-cross pattern, taking care not to cut right through. Rub the duck liberal