Around this time of year, gooseberries become the darling of social media. Shiny cherries, old, grumpy looking pumpkins and heritage tomatoes can briefly step aside from the iphone lense and form a queue behind these plump, veiny orbs. Restaurant menus also jump on this seasonal bandwagon, tempering their tang with creamy fools, or scattering raw slices with halibut crudo (which if I’m honest, makes my stomach turn a little). Yet gooseberries rarely turn up in home cooking, possibly losing ground to more user-friendly strawberries. I always associate gooseberries with when I was a child. Being relatively greedy and already knowledgeable of other types of sweet, messy summer berries, I stuffed my face without realising the cheek-raspingly sour consequences. I lived and learned the hard way.
Like anything bitter, sharp or sour, a little guidance from contrasting ingredients can conjure magical results. Sugars and fats seem to work best at this balancing act, and in this case a plump, laden duck proved the perfect sidekick. I’ve often struggled to cook duck in the past, with most methods that suggest frying and then roasting the breasts consistently producing overcooked, disappointingly grey results. So this time I stuck to the hobs and was much happier with the pink, juicy flesh.
As with many savoury dishes, there is nothing quite like a deep, meaty sauce to tie everything together. These intense reductions need a bit of time and care to get right, but are definitely worth all the effort spent browning, simmering and straining. In the end, a shockingly small puddle of sauce is produced, but it is compressed flavour, and only little is needed with each serving. The same principles of sauce making can be reproduced with beef, lamb, chicken etc etc…
It’s hard to ignore the other green, vibrant summer produce at the moment, with beautiful lettuces and, of course, peas working their way into lots of meals. The end result is a warm salad of sorts, a combination of rich, gamey duck and refreshing, multi-textured accompaniments.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 duck, portioned into breasts, legs and wings. Carcass bones cut into pieces and reserved
For the pan-fried breast:
The breasts from the duck, trimmed of sinew and excess fat
1 large knob of butter
For the duck sauce:
The wings and bones from the duck, fat removed
1 shallot, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
A few sprigs of thyme
1 large glass of white wine
500ml chicken stock
1 large knob of butter
For the gooseberry puree:
500g gooseberries, trimmed
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
3 tbsp of caster sugar
1 knob of butter
For the torched gooseberries:
1 handful of gooseberries, halved
To finish:
2 handfuls of fresh peas, podded
A few large lettuce leaves, washed and torn into small pieces
½ a lemon, juice only
Preheat to oven to 160⁰C. Season the duck legs all over with salt and pepper. Place a metal rack above an oven dish and top with the legs, then slide into the oven and bake for 2 hours, or until the duck is tender in the middle with a crispy skin. When the legs are cooked, allow them to rest for 15 minutes, then strip from the bone in large chunks.
While the duck legs are cooking, make the gooseberry puree. Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the shallot, garlic, thyme and a good pinch of seasoning, and sauté for a couple of minutes, until soft and slightly caramelised. Add the gooseberries and the sugar, and continue to fry for a further 5-8 minutes, or until the berries start to melt. Taste a little of the sauce, and add more sugar if needed. Pour the contents of the pan into a food processor and blend well. Add the butter and blend for a further few seconds, until fully emulsified. Pass the puree through a sieve into a bowl, cover and set aside.
For the sauce, pour a good glug of olive oil into a saucepan and bring up to a medium-high heat. Season the duck wings and bones and brown well in the hot pan, cooking in batches if necessary. Add the shallot, carrot, garlic and thyme and continue to fry for a couple more minutes, until the vegetables are slightly caramelised. Pour in the white wine and allow to reduce by two-thirds. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up the crust from the bottom of the pan. Top up with the chicken stock and return to the boil. Reduce the liquid a second time, by around three-quarters, until thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the sauce through a sieve into a smaller saucepan, and stir in the butter. Keep warm.
Fill a saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Pod the peas and add to the water with a good pinch of seasoning. Blanche for 1 minute, then drain. Pour over lots of cold water to halt the cooking process. Shell the peas into a small bowl. Tear up the lettuce and add to the peas.
Season the duck breasts all over and place them skin-side down into a cold, dry frying pan. Turn on the heat to medium-high and fry for 6 minutes, until the skin is crispy and has released its excess fat. Turn the breasts over and continue to cook for a further 4 minutes. Transfer the cooked duck to a side plate and allow to rest for 10 minutes, then slice in half lengthways.
Halve the spare gooseberries and arrange cut-side up on a metal tray. Use a blow torch to char the berries, holding the flame over for about 10 seconds, or until they are slightly blackened.
Squeeze the lemon juice over the lettuce and peas, and sprinkle on a little seasoning. Use your hands to mix well.
To serve, arrange half a duck breast and a few pieces of leg meat to each plate. Add a large dollop of the gooseberry puree to the side. Scatter the torched berries, peas and lettuce around the sides. Finish with a generous amount of the duck sauce.
In the last month Katie and I have moved from the original tiny Sam Cooks Food flat slightly east to London Fields. Although I enjoyed Stoke Newington and have plenty of fantastic memories, one of the things that I will miss the most is the amazing greengrocers that we had close by. This blog really wouldn’t be the same without it. That shop was a constant influence, and the sheer range of interesting fruit and vegetables meant that after every visit I often left with three or four new recipe ideas flying around my head. They were the place to go when searching for that springtime wild garlic, for those vibrant heritage carrots or the sweetest of summer tomatoes. I really was like a kid in a sweetshop there. Mum must approve that I’ve grown up to consider greengrocers like sweetshops.
I was up early one crisp morning, and having a day-off ahead of me I wrapped up and took a stroll back to my old haunts, planning to pop by the greengrocers to get a few bits to make a simple warming soup upon my return. I was taken instantly by the vast array of handsome pumpkins and squashes piled up outside, and immediately the old recipe cogs started working away. The comparison between the produce available at the supermarkets when compared to the smaller, specialist shops always amazes me. If I went to the former I would be limited to your standard Cinderella bulbous orange types or the old faithful butternut squashes. But that morning about a dozen variants were on show, some tiny, some speckled, some that looked like two totally different pumpkins fused together. I just had to get one. I changed my mind and bought two. And somehow upon my return home I had also acquired some lovely mushrooms, a pair of duck legs and a honking chunk of taleggio.
I really love the autumn, and living close to London Fields I’m lucky enough to be treated to the glorious spectrum of burnished gold and orange on a daily basis. The food is also at its most dramatic and striking, with gourds, corn, beets, apples and chestnuts all on the seasonal menu. Gone are the sea of green spring and summer vegetables and the light, refreshing dishes they abounded. For the next few months it is all about hearty, filling food; the sort that makes a day spent in the cold forgotten within seconds.
Soup is a year-round thing in our household and is always savoured. They are marvellous things, often loaded with all of those vegetables that my body screams out for after a few heavy nights out or a tough week at work. It always shocks me that lots of my friends still hold a stigma against the humble soup, not deeming them worthy as a standalone meal option. Well more fool them, they clearly haven’t had a steaming bowl of tomato soup with triangles of cheese and bread on the side. Heaven. I just like the creativity that they allow. On busy days a few chunks of root vegetable floating in a bit of stock will suffice, but the variety of little finishing touches is almost limitless. This recipe is very much in this thinking; the base is a simple yet delicious roasted pumpkin soup that stands up for itself. But this is only made more interesting with the different textures and bursts of flavour from the garnish.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
For the pumpkin:
1 medium pumpkin, peeled and seeds removed and reserved
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 lemon, zest only
3 garlic cloves, grated
5 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
3 tbsp olive oil
For the duck and stock:
2 duck legs, skin removed and reserved
1 glass dry white wine
1 litre good chicken stock
1 leek, sliced
1 carrot, chopped
2 shallots, sliced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tomatos, diced
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp dried oregano
5 sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
For the chestnut, leaves and duck skin:
3 fresh chestnuts, peeled and thinly sliced
The reserved skin from the duck legs, cut into small pieces
The seeds from the pumpkin, cleaned of membrane
3 thyme sprigs
½ tbsp. dried chilli
½ tbsp. dried oregano
For the mushrooms:
12 girolle mushrooms, brushed clean
To finish:
100g taleggio cheese, torn into small pieces
Fresh oregano leaves
1 lemon, zest only
Extra virgin olive oil
Pour a little olive oil into a large saucepan and set on a high heat. Season the duck legs and quickly brown on all sides, then transfer to a side plate. Tip in the leek, shallot, carrot, garlic, thyme, oregano, paprika and bay and sauté for about 5 minutes, then pour in the wine. Reduce by half then top up with the stock. Tip in the tomatoes and return the duck legs in the pan, making sure they are covered by the liquid. Bring to the boil, then turn to a low simmer. Partly cover and cook for 1.5-2 hours, or until the duck is very tender. Remove the duck legs from the pan and allow to rest in a little of the liquid for 10 minutes, then strip off the meat into small pieces and set aside. Strain the stock, discarding the vegetables.
Preheat the oven to 200⁰C.
While the duck is cooking, cut the peeled and seeded pumpkin into 1.5” chunks and scatter in one layer onto an oven dish. Mix all of the other ingredients and a good amount of seasoning in a bowl, then pour over the pumpkin and toss until each piece is well coated. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until lightly caramelised on the outside with a soft core, turning every so often.
For the crispy seeds, duck crackling and chestnuts, pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a frying pan and heat to medium-high. Fry the skin, chestnut slices and seeds with the herbs, spices and seasoning for a few minutes, or until crispy and golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper and drain well.
When the pumpkin is cooked, transfer to a food processor and blitz really well. Slowly add the strained duck stock to the puree, continuing to mix until a smooth soup consistency is achieved. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Pour back into a saucepan and bring to just below the boil.
While the soup is heating up, pour a little olive oil into a small frying pan. When at a medium-high heat, fry the girolle mushrooms for a couple of minutes or until caramelised on the outside and cooked through.
To serve, place bits of the braised duck leg into each bowl and cover with the hot soup. Scatter over the crispy duck crackling, seeds and chestnut along with the pieces of taleggio, cooked girolles and fresh oregano leaves. Grate over a little of the lemon zest and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
