Today was our son's first day at school (I say school, its nursery really, but they call it a school, so we do too). We checked our list, we had the uniform, snack box, spare nappies, backpack ... we were ready. As we stood outside the school gate waiting for it to open, I was starting to get nervous ... I thought there might be a little moment were he wanted to hug me, tell me he loved me ... say goodbye ...
Not my son, as they opened the gate, he took a hand and did not even look back!
I had three hours to myself ... I had a coffee, sorted out a few bits and pieces and headed to the butcher ... duck legs are a family staple as we often have them in the freezer and bung them in the oven from frozen when the fridge is empty.
I stocked up on a few, I love to eat them with with mash and green vegtables, especially peas. This is how I cook them:
DUCK LEGS - Serve 2 per person
Ingredients
2 Duck legs
- Turn the oven to 190
- Put the duck legs in a roasting tin and place in middle of the oven, cooking time will vary if you are cooking from frozen or fresh, see below. With each method you will need to remove the duck from the oven every 20 mins or so and pour off the duck fat.
- FROZEN: Cook at 190 for 20 mins, turn the oven down to 170 for 50 mins, turn to 200 for a final 10 mins to crispen the skin
- FRESH: Cook at 190 for 20 mins, turn the oven down to 170 for 30 mins, turn to 200 for a final 10 mins to crispen the skin
- When cooked the duck should have a very crispy skin, if not put in for another five mins or until it is.
- Duck is quite rich so I serve this with mash and green veg
Cooking notes
These are great for a dinner party, if your guests are running late, turn the oven right down after they have had their time at 170 and stop pouring off the fat as you will need this to keep them from drying out. When your guests arrive give the legs a burst of heat at 200 for 10 mins to crisp up the skin. This will create a delicious almost confit style duck leg.
I keep the duck fat to use when making roast potatoes. Pour into a heat proof jam jar/bowl and place in the fridge, you will be able to use it for a couple of weeks.
Adapting
Duck legs are also great served with salad and boiled jersey royal potatoes
Comments