Roast duck with olives in a sauce diable

In this dish, the duck is roasted in a conventional way but the thing that makes it, is the sauce.  It is rich and piquant which means it goes excellently with the duck.  Incidentally, it also goes well with wild duck and goose.

Preparation Time: 15 Mins

Cooking Time: 1½ Hrs

Total Time: 1¾ Hrs

Ingredients

For 4 servings…

1                    Duck        

  Salt              

For the sauce

1                    Duck liver  

                     Juices  - from cooking the duck 

1 glass             Wine  - red 

12                   Olives  - black, stoned

1                    Lemon  - juice of      

½                   Orange  - juice of      

½ glass            Water       

1 tbs               Parsley  - chopped    

1 tbs               Olive oil    

2 tbs               Mustard  - Dijon      

                     Pepper      

                     Salt          

Method

To cook the duck…

Rub the duck with salt and then prick all over with a fork so that the fat runs out whilst the bird roasts.  Place the duck on a v-shaped rack, breast side down, in a baking tray deep enough to collect the juices.  Roast the duck until still slightly underdone for about 1½ hours at 200°C.  Turn it over after one hour and roast the liver of the duck alongside the bird for the last 10 mins.  The duck’s skin should be crisp and brown.

To make the sauce…

Liquidise the cooked duck liver, the juices from the cooked duck (having skimmed off the fat), the wine, the olives, the lemon and orange juices, the water, the parsley, olive oil and mustard.  Season with salt and pepper.  Do not allow the sauce to become too smooth.

Warm this sauce in a small saucepan - blending well - but do not allow it to boil.

Serve the sauce with the duck.

Serve With

          Boiled potatoes

          Green salad

Wine recommendations

          A red wine, ideally, a Burgundy.

  Conventional

           Burgundy

  Interesting

           Mercurey

           Moulin-à-Vent

  Special

           Aloxe-Corton

           Chambolle-Musigny