Duck Breast, Orange Sauce, Duck-Fat Roasted Potatoes & Baby Red Chard

Preheat the oven and cook the potatoes

Set to 220°C/ 200°C (fan)/ 425°F/ Gas 7 and boil a kettle. 

Cut the waxy potatoes (skins on) into bite-sized pieces, add them to a pot of boiled water and cook them for 10-12 minutes or until they're fork-tender.

Once cooked, drain and set them aside. Reserve the pot for later.

Render the duck skin

Whilst the potatoes are boiling, use a sharp knife to score the duck skin on a diagonal, being careful not to cut through to the meat. Season with a pinch of salt.

Add the scored duck, skin-side down, to a cold dry pan over a low-medium heat. Cook for 10-15 minutes, skin-side down only, or until the skin is golden and crispy and the fat under the skin rendered. 

Tip: By cooking this over a low-medium heat, you'll render all of the fat.

Roast the duck fat potatoes

Once golden, transfer the duck, skin-side up, to a baking tray and set aside until later. Reserve the duck fat for your potatoes.

Add the drained potatoes to a separate baking tray, crush gently with a fork and season with a pinch of salt. Pour over the reserved duck fat and give everything a good mix up.

Put the potatoes in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden and crisp.

Prepare to make your orange sauce

Whilst the potatoes are in the oven, zest 1 [2] orange[s]. Try to grate lightly with a micro-plane or sharp box grater and avoid grating the white pith, as this is very bitter!

Peel and finely dice the red onion[s].

Dissolve 1/2 [1] Knorr chicken stock cube in 200ml [300ml] boiled water.

Start cooking the sauce and roast the duck

Heat a pot with a knob of butter over a medium heat. Once hot, add the diced onion and cook for 3-4 minutes or until softened.

Meanwhile, put the duck breasts in the oven for 10-12 minutes for medium. Cook for a further 3-5 minutes if you prefer your duck well done. Once cooked, set the duck aside to rest for at least 10 minutes. 

Tip: Resting your duck will keep it moist and tender!

Finish your orange sauce

Once the onion has softened, add the honey, chicken stock and the juice of the oranges to the pot and bring to a boil over a high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-high and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the sauce is thick and sticky.

Once sticky, stir in the orange zest – this is your orange sauce.

Make your garlic chard

Whilst your orange sauce is cooking, peel and finely chop (or grate) the garlic. 

Chop the parsley finely.

Return the pan (used to boil your potatoes) to a medium heat with a knob of butter. Once melted, add the chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the baby red chard with a pinch of salt and cook for 2-3 minutes or until slightly wilted – this is your garlic chard.