D is for Duck

Got home to find a present from our neighbour: a brace of pheasants and a couple of ducks hanging on a nail off the side of the house.

My hubby obliged with the gunky job, which he does very efficiently with the pheasants by just removing the breasts, and taking the saddle off the duck with a few slashes of the knife.  No mess with feathers since the skin's removed with them still on.

The pheasant's gone in the freezer for another evening, but this is a really simple recipe that keeps the duck breasts moist as there's no skin to protect them.

Gather

• 3 tbspns clear honey
• 2 tbspns light soy sauce
• 1 teaspn crushed garlic
• 1 teaspn crushed ginger
• 100 mls orange juice
• Zest of an orange
• Grind of Sichuan pepper
• 200 grms small mushrooms, cleaned (or larger ones halved)
• 12 spring onions, trimmed and cut into thirds

Then...

1. Preheat the over to 180°C*
2. Put the duck breasts in an ovenproof dish
3. Stir together the ingredients apart from the mushrooms and the onions
4. Pour the liquid over the duck meat
5. Roast in the oven for 5 minutes
6. Put the mushrooms and onions in the dish tossing a bit in the liquid
7. Cook for a further 15 minutes
8. Serve with stir fry veggies and rice

* or simply put in the baking oven of the aga

Served two (given we were hungry and the ducks were wilds ones).  Sorry no photos...