Last year in spring I tried a new technique for cooking chicken legs. I carefully removed the bones, rolled the meat up and fixed it with kitchen twine. Then I roasted the chicken roll on all sides and baked the leg in the oven. The result turned out really great, so now in winter I gave the same technique a try using duck legs.

Duck legs usually contain more fat compared to chicken and the meat is tougher too. To remove the fat and slowly tenderize the meat, I first rendered the fat from the skin at medium heat. After almost all fat was rendered, I turned up the heat and roasted the rolls on all sides and finished the meat in the oven. The result was not as soft as duck leg confit, but this wasn’t my purpose either.

As garnish I cooked salsify in two ways. I wrapped half of the sticks in aluminium foil, baked them in the oven and blended them to a fine puree. Baking salsify is so simple, because peeling the cooked sticks is not sticky at all and discoloration is easily avoided. I cooked the remaining sticks just before serving the dish in vanilla milk until they were al dente. Duck works well with many different fruits, so I added some quince to the duck sauce and plated the dish with a few drops of bright orange mandarin puree. I finished the dish with some basil oil, which added both color and freshness, and paired well with the salsify and the duck.

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