Chef’s Recipe: Spiced Duck Leg Salad, Orange and Pomegranate from John Campbell at The Woodspeen

With Duck season well underway why not try something a little bit different with this delicious recipe for Spiced Duck Leg Salad from John Campbell of The Woodspeen Restaurant & Cookery School.

Spiced Duck Leg Salad, Orange and Pomegranate  –  Serves 6

For the duck marinade:

Ingredients

• 100g sugar
• 100g sea salt
• 6g Chinese 5-spice powder
• Half a thinly sliced orange

Method

Mix all ingredients together and rub the mix all over the duck legs and place on a tray, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 8 hours.

For the duck legs:

Ingredients

• 6 cured duck legs, washed for 10 minutes
• 500g duck fat, or oil – enough to totally submerge the duck legs
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• Parsley to finish

Method

Heat the oven to 150°C. Wipe the duck with kitchen paper, pat dry, place in a 15cm pan and cover with the oil or duck fat. Add the bay leaves and peppercorns, and place in the oven for about 4 hours with the pan lid on. The meal should be falling away from the bone if gently pressed with the back of a spoon. Take out of the oil and place duck legs on a plate, cover with cling film, and allow to chill for 30 minutes.

Remove the cling film and gently remove bones. Shred the meat making sure to remove the skin and put onto a plate and into the fridge to cool and firm up.

For the orange dressing:

Ingredients

• 250g fresh orange juice
• 5 orange zests
• 15g caster sugar
• 50ml white wine vinegar
• 200ml vegetable or sunflower oil
• 50ml fresh orange juice, if needed

Method

Chef’s tip: This dressing needs to be made enough in advance that it has time to cool before serving and can be made up to two weeks in advance and stored in the fridge.

Gently simmer 250g of orange juice, zest and sugar to reduce to approximately 100ml.

Slowly add the white wine vinegar and oil to the reduced orange juice mix whilst blending with a hand blender until it emulsifies and becomes thicker. If it has become too thick you can add what you need of the additional 50ml of orange juice to loosen the consistency.

To finish:

Place the duck in a pan on a medium heat with some of the dressing and warm. Dress the salad leaves (reserve a little to dress the figs) and place on a board. Place the duck meat and dressed figs on top, scatter with the chopped orange and pomegranate seeds. Season to taste.

Alternatively, try one of John Campbell’s creations first-hand and book a table at The Woodspeen. Dine with the Luxury Restaurant Club and receive a complimentary glass of Ayala, Majeur Brut, Aÿ Champagne, see details here. Discover this and more of the UK’s most awarded restaurants by downloading the Luxury Restaurant Guide’s free app here.  Follow steps to join the club for exclusive privileges when dining.

The Woodspeen Restaurant & Cookery School, Lambourn Road, Woodspeen, Newbury, Berkshire RG20 8BN