Duck legs are affordable and make a beautiful tasty winter warmer!

Combine with a dark red fruit – cherries are good, but other fruit like plums can also be used instead.

Ingredients

• Two duck legs
• A dozen fresh dark cherries or half a tin of cherries (drained)
• 1 teaspoon of demerera sugar
• 1 teaspoon of five-spice powder
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of star anise
• Half a stick of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of cornflour

Method

1. Wash the duck legs and place in an ovenproof dish that is just big enough for them to fit.
2. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, add sugar, five-spice powder, soy sauce, olive oil, star anise and cinnamon stick and shake vigorously with lid on.
3. Pour the mixture over the duck legs, cover with clingfilm and leave to marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours, or even overnight.
4. Remove the stones from a dozen dark cherries. Alternatively, use half a tin of stoneless cherries (Tip: Omit the sugar from the marinade, since fruit is usually tinned in syrup.)
5. Pre-heat the oven to 170C (Gas Mark 3).
6. Remove the clingfilm from ovenproof dish and add the cherries to the duck. Put in the oven on the middle shelf and cook for about two and a half hours.
7. Once cooked, remove the duck legs and the cherries from the dish and place on warmed plates.
8. Sieve the cooking liquid into a small saucepan. Using a spoon, skin off most of the fat then bring to the boil, stirring continuously, and add a teaspoon of cornflour dissolved in a little cold water to thicken the sauce.
9. Pour the thickened sauce over the duck legs.

Serving Tip

Serve with food to soak up the delicious sauce: rice, pasta, mashed potatoes or even crusty bread.