Karen Wright: How to make the popular classic French duck à l’orange

It was my mum’s birthday last week and normally we would have gone out for a bite of lunch somewhere. This year things are very different but as she is in our ‘bubble’ I cooked a lunch for her. She chose the starter and the pudding. A very retro choice of prawn cocktail and trifle!

The main dish was also a bit of a 70s throwback — duck à l’orange. One of my favourite places in France is the Dordogne area and duck is a very popular dish there. It is often served with Sarlat potatoes. Sarlat is one of the main towns in the Dordogne. So, I cooked duck in orange sauce with Sarlat potatoes.

It is very simple to prepare. For the duck heat the oven to 180c. Prick the duck legs all over with a fork to allow fat to escape during cooking. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on a baking tray to roast in the oven for about 90 minutes. Every now and then spoon off the duck fat which renders down from the duck and place in a bowl. After the time is up and the duck skin is crispy, remove from the oven to rest and wrap in foil for about ten minutes.

While the duck is cooking, peel and thickly slice some potatoes. Cook in boiling water until tender, drain and leave to cool on a chopping board. Sprinkle them with fine semolina, this will give them some crunchy bits. Heat the duck fat in a large frying pan and sauté the potatoes, grind over some salt and pepper and just before serving stir through some garlic puree and a handful of chopped parsley.

To make a quick orange sauce, pour 200ml of orange juice into a small pan with a tablespoon of sugar, bring to the boil and let it bubble until it reduces a bit. Add a splash of white wine vinegar and thicken with cornflour, et voila, that is it!

I bought the Gressingham duck legs from Aldi and they are very good, you can use breast but remember to score lines through the skin to stop it from bending out of shape during cooking and this will release the fat too. Enjoy!

For more tips and recipes go to http://www.karenwrightbakes.co.uk