TONY STAPLES: A luxurious meal to help you beat the January blues
“I put this dish on our menu just after Christmas and it has flown out the kitchen.
“The richness of duck meat always works well with fruity flavours and I have borrowed a few Asian-inspired ingredients too.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“The combination will give your taste buds a workout, with pops of sweetness from the grapes and plums, mixed with a fiery hit of ginger.
“There is something luxurious about duck meat that makes any meal feel like a special occasion. Perfect then if you are struggling through these grey January days and need to give yourself a lift. Freeze any leftover plum and ginger sauce and you will have a ready-made dip for spring rolls or wontons in time for Chinese New Year on February 16.”
The Grill in the Arora is Crawley’s only AA-rosette restaurant. To book, phone 01293 530000. Follow us on Twitter. Like us on Facebook (Arora Hotel Gatwick Crawley). Share your duck dishes with us on Instagram by tagging @aroragatwick. Visit www.gatwick.arorahotels.com.
Gressingham duck breasts with soy glazed roots and fruits, and plum and ginger sauce
Serves 2
2 large duck breasts with skin on
Salt and pepper
1 kohlrabi, peeled and diced into bite-sized chunk
4 baby beetroots
10 red seedless grapes
120ml soy sauce
120ml water
1 clove
1 star anise
1tsp soy sauce
For the plum and ginger sauce:
250g plums, halved and stoned
1tsp sesame oil
10cm piece of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Quarter of a red chilli, finely chopped
1 flat tablespoon of ground five spice
150g dark brown sugar
150ml red wine vinegar
Method
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdTo make the plum and ginger sauce, heat the sesame oil in a saucepan and fry the ginger, garlic and chilli for 30 seconds.
Add the plums and five spice, and cook until the plums start to soften.
Stir in the sugar and red wine vinegar. Bring to the boil and then simmer until the liquid goes sticky. This takes about 10 minutes. Blitz in a blender until smooth.
In a saucepan, stir the 120ml soy sauce with the water, star anise and clove, and add the peeled baby beets.
Simmer for 45 minutes until the beets are cooked.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdRemove from the saucepan with a slotted spoon and keep warm. Pour the remaining hot liquid over the kohlrabi. Keep warm.
For the soy grapes, heat the teaspoon of soy sauce in the pan. Toss in the grapes for 30 seconds. Turn off the heat and leave in the pan while you cook the duck.
Season the duck breasts and place skin side down in a hot pan. Cook for a few minutes. Turnover and cook for another minute, then place in a preheated oven, 175oC for 5 minutes.
Leave to rest for 5 minutes before carving into thick slices and serving with the soy beets, kohlrabi and grapes, with generous amounts of plum and ginger sauce.
Chef’s tip
The sticky soy grapes are also delicious with roast pork.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdDon’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.
Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be among the first to know what’s going on.
1 Make our website your homepage
2 Like our Facebook page
3 Follow us on Twitter
4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
Be part of it.