Wild Mallard Duck with Balsamic Cherries and Lentils
This wild Mallard Duck has been in the freezer since my trip to Borough Market in March . Corerection it has been in in Nicks freezer since March and he has been nagging me to do something with it . I have however been waiting for the perfect ingredient cherries . Duck loves cherry , their tart sweetness contrasts perfectly with the salty duck.
Cherries are coming into season in the UK now however in the UK we have lost we’ve lost 90% of our Cherry orchards and now import around 95% of the Cherries we eat. FoodLoversBritain has launced Cherry Aid is the campaign that unites all Cherry Lover chefs, Cherry growers, producers of Cherry-based food to save the British Cherry.
Roasted Wild Mallard Duck
Wild ducks are actually much smaller than the Gressingham farmed ducks one probably serves to people
Preheat the oven to 190degC
Season the duck skin well with salt and pepper
Place in a roasting tray breast side down , roast for 30 minutes
Turn over baste well with any juices that have come from the duck
Roast for a further 30 minutes
Remove from the oven a leave to rest for 20 minutes covered in foil
Balsamic Cherry Lentils
200g of fresh cherries stoned
100g of Green Lentils
1 pint of boiling water
4 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp of sugar
4 springs of thyme
- Place the cherries and lentils in a pan
- Pour over the boiling water , cover simmer for 20 minutes
- Add the balsamic vinegar , sugar and thyme
- Simmer for another 10 minutes with the lid removed
Only be careful with these wild ducks , don’t mistake shot for lentils
Duck is one of the few things that I have not attempted cooking myself yet. This looks like just the recipe for me to try it. Thanks!
I absolutely love the combination of the sweet cherries, the rich duck and the simple, healthy lentils. WOnderful – and a beautiful presentation, too.
amy @ we are never full
[...] What to do with cherries? It’s hard to resist just eating them, savouring them one by one. But the food blogging community has plenty of suggestions for more adventurous uses of cherries, from traditional Kentish cherry batter (better known by its fancy French name, clafoutis – cooked and blogged by Alex at Eating Leeds and Cook Sister!, amongst others) and madelines with cherries to lemon and cherry posset to Girl Interrupted Eating’s inspired Wild Mallard Duck with Balsamic Cherries and Lentils. [...]
Only one thing more amazing than being able to enter diverse ingredients into the computer (duck – lentils) , and come up with THE recipe – and that is that Ihave all the ingredients on hand for this one! can’t wait. The cherries are sitting in brandy – perhaps that disqualifies them? LOL!