Braised Duck Legs with Port and Cranberries

We're less than 8 weeks away from our annual trip north to the Oregon coast so I've been doing a little freezer diving lately. Last night's find happened to be two lovely duck legs with thighs intact which kinda' got the salivary glands in action. You all know how we love our duck!

A quick review of the pantry yielded an almost full bottle of tawny port along with some dried cranberries so I thought why not! Inspired by a previous recipe we'd used from Alice Waters, I simply sauteed some shallots and a carrot, added a little parsley, thyme, bay leaf and lots of black pepper, then added the duck to the pan along with some port and chicken stock and it hit the oven for 30 minutes. Flipped to skin side up, the legs were joined by dried cranberries and a good handful of diced pancetta along with a little more port and stock, then returned to the oven for another hour. 

The result incredibly delicious moist and tender bird with a pan sauce to beat all pan sauces, absolutely perfect for a bed of mashed potatoes. We'll be experimenting a little more often if it results in stellar food like this one. 

Well other than busy, I'm not too sure what kind of a day this is going to be but I'm convinced it's going to improve enormously. It started out with me running right smack into a big cactus which rather gives the word "prickly" a whole new meaning if you get my drift. It's a good thing I was wearing a hat but still I'll be picking spines out of my head for a good bit of the day. Yowza' - talk about a wake up call!

Braised Duck Legs with Port and Cranberries (from JBug's Kitchen inspired by Alice Waters)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 large shallots, diced

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

6 sprigs fresh parsley, leaves only

1 bay leaf

2 to 4 duck legs (drums and thighs attached)

Salt and coarse ground black pepper

1 cup dried cranberries

3/4 cup Tawny Port

3 ounces pancetta, chopped

1-1/2 cups chicken broth (or more as needed)

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425. In a large cast iron or other oven proof skillet heat olive oil until shimmering. Add shallots and carrot and sauté, stirring constantly until softened – about 4 minutes. Add thyme, parsley, bay leaf and cook, stirring an additional few minutes until vegetables are starting to brown. Meanwhile, trim excess fat from duck legs, wash and dry well. Season liberally with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. Move vegetables to the edges of the pan and place duck legs, skin side down into pan. Add Port and chicken stock and heat until bubbling. (Liquid should be to a depth of 1 inch, so add more stock as needed). Place skillet into the oven and roast for 30 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and flip duck legs so they’re skin side up. Add the diced pancetta and cranberries. Check the liquid level and add more to maintain level to 1 inch. Return skillet to the oven, lower heat to 325 and cook for additional 1-1/2 to 2 hours until duck is tender and skin is dark brown and crisp. Skim accumulated fat from surface of pan and refrigerate for another use. Serve duck legs on a bed of mashed potatoes, and top with some pan sauce. Makes 2 to 4 servings. 

 

Comments

[Lorraine]

The pan sauce sounds to die for. Great use of the freezer dive and the pantry plunder. Eight weeks and counting, and try not to have any more accidents will ya :)

[Lea]

That dish sounds so good - you should experiment more often! You have excellent natural instincts in the kitchen!
Now, about that cactus... questions pop into my mind to which I am sure there are no answers...
I am just glad we don't have too many cacti here!

[June]

Lorraine - the booze really helps the pan sauce, to say nothing of duck fat.

Lea - I was walking the dogs by a deceased rabbit on the side of the road and the cactus just jumped out and nailed me upside the head. Thanks for being too polite to ask. LOL