DUCK WITH SEVILLE ORANGE AND ROSEMARY SAUCE

I first tried this recipe in Elizabeth David’s French Provincial Cookery when I was learning to cook. I have modified it over the years, serving it with farmed or wild duck. The distinctive Bigarade sauce, named after the French name for Seville oranges, can only be made when they are in the shops, but I like it so much that I freeze small pots to use throughout the year. The house smells of sharp Seville oranges for days because I buy enough oranges to make plenty of my mother’s “magic marmalade” too, which includes extra lemons to provide a fresh, sharp taste that I have never found in a professional jar. Marmalade-making sums up an agreement between my mother and me. When I was busy with children and work at the BBC, she made enough marmalade to keep the Hann toast tasty; it was typical of the support she always gave me. When she became frail, our roles reversed. She never had to buy marmalade, nor, I hope, worry about a thing.

Preparation: 30 mins

Cooking: 45 mins

Serves 4

4 duck breasts

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp plain/all-purpose flour

1 tbsp chopped young rosemary leaves

90ml/3fl oz/6 tbsp dry white wine

90ml/3fl oz/6 tbsp stock, made from duck giblets if you have them, or chicken stock

finely grated zest and juice of 3 Seville oranges

about 1–3 tbsp redcurrant jelly, to taste

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To cook the duck, score the fatty skin on the breasts. Heat a heavy-based frying pan, put the duck breasts skin-side down in the pan and dry-fry for 12–15 minutes until the skin is golden brown. Pour off the fat. Add salt and pepper to the breasts, turn them over in the pan and cook for several minutes until they are cooked to your liking.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Heat the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat until it starts to brown, then add the flour and cook, stirring continuously, until you have a pale brown roux. Add the rosemary and the wine and heat until reduced a little. Add the stock and simmer until you have a smooth, thick sauce the consistency of double/heavy cream. Add the orange zest to the sauce with the juice from the oranges and simmer for a few minutes. When you taste it you will find it bitter, but you can then add enough redcurrant jelly to suit your taste buds. Start with 1 tablespoon, but you will probably want to add more. Season with salt and pepper. Slice the duck breasts and serve with the sauce.