What to cook March
Oriental-Style Roast Duck with Sauteed Ginger Potatoes This is a simple way to turn your Sunday roast lunch into a special occasion. Try using sweet potatoes in place of the potatoes, and why not round off your meal with this month’s Pomegranate Fool.
Preparation time : 40 minutes plus 30 minutes marinading Cooking time : 1 hour plus 10 minutes resting time Total time : 2 hours 20 minutes Serves: 4
Virtues of a roast
Fancy a twist on a British tradition? Follow this recipe for a new type of Sunday roast.
Image source: www.sxc.hu
Ingredients 1.9-2.3kg Waitrose Farmhouse Duckling 1 tbsp sea salt 2 tsp Bart Spices Chinese Five Spice 2 tbsp soy sauce 150ml medium sweet sherry (Waitrose Oloroso Sherry) 1kg red skinned potatoes, such as Desirée 5cm piece root ginger, roughly chopped 1 shallot, finely chopped Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method 1. To make the skin crispy, prick the duck all over with a fork. Carefully pour a kettleful of boiling water over the skin and pat dry with kitchen paper. 2. Rub sea salt into the skin and set aside for 30 minutes.Wipe the excess salt off the duck, then rub in the five spice powder. Shake the soy sauce into the cavity and leave to marinate in a cool place for 30 minutes.
There are many British traditions and customs that separate us from the rest of Europe, and the world, such as red telephone boxes, cups of tea and mini’s, but one of the most loved traditions is having a roast dinner on a Sunday afternoon with the family.
3. Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Roast the duck for 30 minutes, basting occasionally with the fat. Drain the fat from the pan and reserve. 4. Pour the sherry into the pan and return the duck to the oven for 30 minutes. Peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes. Pour 2 tbsp of the reserved duck fat into a large frying pan and cook the potatoes for 10 minutes until golden.
The traditional roast dinner is made up of roast potatoes, vegetables, meat and of course Yorkshire puddings, which are usually drenched in gravy; but do having something so often, start to get boring?
5. Add the ginger, shallot and seasoning, and continue to cook for a further 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
To save the tradition and to not hang up our aprons on this family-bonding activity forever, why not spruce it up a little?
6. Remove the duck from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes then carve and arrange on plates with the ginger potatoes. Drizzle with the sherry pan juices and serve.
28 WAITROSE.COM MARCH 2011
(recipe from www.waitrose.com)
MARCH 2011 WAITROSE.COM 29