THE inspiration behind this week’s column is the wedding of our former French chef Walter and his beautiful bride Anne-Louise, our former English manageress, which we enjoyed in a lovely area of Burgundy last week.
The wedding breakfast included Comfit of Duck leg, which was superb, so we wanted to share our own recipe for the dish with you. To serve four you need 4 duck legs, 255g each; 2oz sea salt; 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 2 crushed garlic cloves; 4 sprigs thyme; and 1kg duck fat.
Season the duck legs, place them in a roasting tin and rub the garlic and thyme all over. Leave overnight, but not longer than 24 hours, as the duck will absorb too much salt and become dry. Melt the duck fat in a large pan, wipe the salt from the duck with paper towels, and place the duck in the melted fat. Over a medium heat bring the fat slowly to the boil, cover with kitchen foil and place on the middle shelf of a pre-heated low oven, 160c/gas 3, for about 2 ½ to 3 hours.
Test with a skewer to check that the meat is tender, then remove from the heat and allow to cool in the fat. To serve just place your duck legs in a hotter oven to crisp up and this is great served with a Rocket and Parmesan Salad.
Another delicious French dish we enjoyed was Burgundy Tomato and Goat’s Cheese Tart. We’ve used Wirral tomatoes for this but you can use any type of tomato, red, yellow or even black!
To serve four you need 4 rounds of ready-made puff pastry, about 4ins in diameter; ½ kg mixed tomatoes; 200g goats cheese, rind removed; two egg yolks; sprig of thyme; two finely chopped garlic cloves; and a splash of olive oil.
Cut your tomatoes into quarters, cut again if the tomatoes are particularly large, and spread them onto an oven tray and mix with the garlic and olive oil. Place in a low oven and cook for about 10 minutes, or until soft, then leave to cool.
Arrange your pastry circles on a large ovenproof tray lined with baking paper, and prick all over with a fork. Turn the oven up to a medium heat and bake the pastry on both sides until golden. The best way to do this is to turn them over so they don’t rise too much.
Beat the egg yolks, goats cheese and thyme together and spread over each pastry circle. Arrange the tomatoes on top and put back in the oven for a further 10 minutes. Serve with some new potatoes and a little salad for a tasty summer snack.