Cook’s Series Slow-roast Duck Leg

Let’s face it, we all love a kitchen shortcut. Enter Cook’s Series Slow-Roast Duck Leg, prepared by our team of professional chefs using high-quality ingredients. Peking Duck Pancakes, Duck Leg with Beans & Watercress Salad, and Pappardelle with Duck Ragu are now within easy reach. You’re welcome!

Heating instructions
• Roast – Remove from bag and cook in an oven pre-heated to 160 degrees Celsius for approximately 30 minutes.
• Pan-fry – Remove from bag and cook gently in a heavy-based pan for approximately 10-15 minutes each side
• Sous-vide – Leave in bag. Submerge full package in a pot of simmering water for 30 minutes with lid on.

Peking Duck Pancakes

Over the centuries across the globe, people have been roasting ducks understandably tempted by that alluring combination of golden crisp skin and fat-basted flesh. Peking Duck, with its involved preparation and ritualised service, has become a popular celebration dish. This is our shortcut version.

Ingredients
• 1 pack Cook’s Series Slow-roast Duck Leg
• cucumber, deseeded & julienned
• spring onions, julienned
• hoisin sauce (want to fancy this up? stir in a little of the duck juices from the pan)
• thin pancakes (sourced from Asian supermarket)

Method
1. Remove the duck leg from package and warm it gently in a heavy-based pan for approximately 10 minutes each side. Once the skin is golden and crispy, put it to one side to rest before slicing.
2. Meanwhile, set out the garnishes on a platter – cucumber, spring onion and hoisin sauce – and warm your pancakes (microwave is easiest but you can also steam them wrapped in baking paper/foil). Serve with all the components laid out for each person to construct their own pancake as they wish.

Tip - Lay a pancake on the plate and spoon some sauce over the middle. Add a few pieces of sliced duck, spring onion and cucumber. From the bottom, fold up a section, then fold in the left and right sides towards the center, leaving a small section open at the top.

Duck Leg with Beans & Watercress Salad

At the helm of a thriving business, Robbie understands the need for easy dinner recipes. Cooked on the bone to extract maximum flavour, slow-roasted duck leg is meltingly tender and a lovely counterpoint to the beans. Simple and oh-so flavoursome.

Ingredients
• 1 pack Cook’s Series Slow-roast Duck Leg - per person
• small bunch watercress
• 100g green beans
• 250g cooked butter beans
• 200ml chicken stock
• Olsson’s Sea Salt Flakes & freshly cracked black pepper to taste
• 100g butter
• parsley, roughly chopped
• extra virgin olive oil
• Toro Albala Gran Reserva 'Chef Special' +25 Year Old Sherry vinegar

Method
1. Place the duck leg skin side down in a non-stick pan and cook for 5 minutes to really crisp up skin. Transfer the duck to an ovenproof dish to fully heat through and place in a 180 degrees oven for 15 minutes.
2. Using the first pan, tip in your butter beans, add chicken stock and warm it all through over a medium heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add cubes of cold butter and swirl the pan to emulsify it all together. Add roughly chopped parsley.
3. Meanwhile, briefly cook green beans in well salted water then remove from water while still bright green but cooked.
4. To plate, spoon a generous bed of butter beans into a shallow bowl and top with golden-brown, crispy-skinned duck leg. Add green beans to one side and tuck in watercress. Drizzle the whole lot with some olive oil and sherry vinegar.

Pappardelle with Duck Ragu

Pappardelle is a broad, flat pasta (approx. 2cm wide) that is perfect for this thick, rich duck ragu. Feel free to buy fresh or dried pasta, or push the boat out and make your own. The word pappardelle comes from the Italian pappare which translates as ‘to gobble up.’ How very appropriate!

Ingredients
• 2 packs Cook’s Series Slow-roast Duck Leg
• 200ml red wine
• 90g carrot, quartered, cut 1cm pieces
• 90g celery stalks, trimmed, cut into 1cm pieces
• 1 medium brown onion, peeled and diced
• 1/2 bunch thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 star anise
• 1 head garlic, halved
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 50g plain flour
• 500ml chicken stock
• salt and pepper
• 150g fresh pappardelle (or 100g dried pasta) per person

Method
1. Combine the duck, wine, carrot, celery, thyme, onion, bay, and garlic and leave it all to marinate overnight.
2. The following day, strain out the duck and vegetables, reserving the marinade including the bay leaf and thyme. Separate the duck from the vegetables. Season the meat with salt and pepper.
3. Sear the duck legs until golden brown and remove them from the pan. Add the vegetables to the pan and cook till brown. Stir in tomato paste, fry for 1 minute then stir in flour and cook for another minute. Add the reserved marinade on high heat and stir to combine well. Bring to the boil and reduce till almost all the liquid has gone. Add the stock and duck, bring to the boil. Cover and turn down the heat to cook on low for 2½ hrs or until the duck is falling off the bone.
4. Take the pot off the heat and let it rest for 30 minutes. Then take out the meat, pour the sauce through a sieve, discarding the herbs and garlic. Return the sauce to the heat and reduce the volume by half.
5. Meanwhile, shred the duck meat from the bone and combine with reserved vegetables. When sauce is reduced, add the reserved meat and vegetables back into the pot with the sauce. It should look glossy and thickened, ready for the pasta to go in.
6. Boil the pappardelle in a large pan of boiling salted water till just about tender (time will depend on if using fresh – 2-3 minutes cook – or dried – up to 10 minutes). Drain pasta and finish the last 30 seconds of cooking in the sauce.