Wild Duck with Root Vegetable Purée, Walnuts, Celery and Grapes

Name: Wild Duck with Root Vegetable Purée, Walnuts, Celery and Grapes
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: United Kingdom
Ingredients: Splash of olive or vegetable oil; 4 whole wild ducks; 1 small bunch of celery; Vegetable oil; 1 garlic clove; 1 large glass of port or full-bodied red wine; 80 g butter; 1 teaspoon redcurrant jelly or honey; 2 handfuls of fresh wet walnuts, shelled and peeled; ½ bunch of black Muscat grapes; 1 bay leaf; 2 carrots, peeled and cut into small pieces, trimmings reserved; 1 large glass of brandy or Armagnac; Sprig of thyme; 1 small swede, peeled and cut into small pieces, trimmings reserved; 10 black peppercorns; 3 garlic cloves

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Complex

Appears in

Today's special

By Anthony Demetre

Published 2008

About

You can use any type of wild duck – mallard, widgeon or teal, although as teal are smaller you would need two per person. I normally use mallard and I find that because of their diet the skin can have a quite fishy taste, so I remove it before serving.

Ingredients

4 whole wild ducks
Vegetable oil
1 garlic clove
1 bay leaf

Europe
United Kingdom
Dinner
England
Gluten-free

Method

Ask your butcher to remove the legs and rear part of the back from the ducks, reserving the breasts on the crown for roasting. Get him to leave the legs intact but chop the back into smallish pieces for the stock/sauce needed to start this recipe.

Colour the legs and chopped pieces of back in the vegetable oil in a heavy-based pan. Add the garlic, bay, thyme, vegetable trimmings and pep