duck and peppery leaf salad recipe

A delicious, easy and quick to prepare recipe for salade tiède, using duck and peppery salad leaves. I use red giant mustard, mizuna or salad rocket – all winter hardy leaves.

serves 6

• Half a large duck breast each as a starter, or one whole breast each for a main course
• A small handful of mixed salad leaves per person
• Sea salt
• Fennel seeds
• Orange zest

for the sauce:

• 2 dessert spoons sesame oil
• 1 dessert spoon honey
• 2 teaspoons hoisin sauce
• Juice of half a lemon
• A splash of sherry

For perfectly cooked duck – crisp on the outside and pink and juicy on the inside – score lots of narrow lines on the skin with a serrated knife and rub in a mixture of salt, fennel seed and orange zest. Fry the breasts, skin side down, in a dry pan and cook on a medium heat until nearly all the fat is rendered and the skin is golden brown. Pour off the excess fat at least once. Transfer to a medium oven for 8 minutes. Be careful they don’t start to burn.

Remove from the oven and wrap loosely with silver foil and leave to rest for at least ten minutes. This is vital. It relaxes the flesh and makes it deliciously tender.

Mix the sauce ingredients in a pan, heating it until it thickens slightly.

Slice the breasts finely and add them to the salad just before you want to eat. Drizzle a tablespoon of sauce over the top.

This recipe features on p.53 of Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook