Roast duck & griddled plum salad

This slow-cooked duck salad makes a great centrepiece for entertaining – dinner party guests will love the range of textures and flavours

Prep:25 mins
Cook:2 hrs 30 mins
plus cooling and chilling, cook for 4 hrs 30 mins if using a slow cooker

Serves 4
More effort

Nutrition per serving

kcal 815
fat 38g
saturates 11g
carbs 73g
sugars 38g
fibre 7g
protein 42g
salt 2.5g

Ingredients

3 duck legs
500ml chicken stock
500ml pomegranate juice
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground cinnamon
175g bulghar wheat
6 plums, halved and stoned
1 tbsp olive oil
300g green beans, trimmed and halved
seeds from 1 pomegranate, or 110g tub pomegranate seeds
1 red onion, finely chopped
50g toasted flaked almonds
200g pack feta cheese, crumbled
large bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
small bunch mint, leaves picked and torn if large
100ml pomegranate juice
3 tbsp pomegranate molasses (or 2 tbsp redcurrant jelly plus 1 tbsp lemon juice)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 preserved lemons, middles scooped out and discarded, skins finely sliced
juice of 2 lemons
1 tbsp clear honey

Tip

Use up the stock

The cooking liquid from the duck will be packed with flavour, so don’t throw it away. Once cooled, skim off any surface fat, then freeze until needed. Strain into your next tagine, fragrant stew or curry.

Method

Up to 2 days before, sit the duck legs in your slow cooker or a small casserole or baking dish – if you don’t have a slow cooker, heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Pour over the stock and pomegranate juice so that the legs are submerged. Poke in the cinnamon stick, cover with the lid, or tightly with foil, and slow-cook for 4 hrs on High, or in the oven for 2hrs, until the duck is really tender. Cool in the liquid, then chill until you make the salad.
One hour before you want to start the salad, lift the duck legs from the liquid, pat dry with kitchen paper and sit in a roasting tin to dry out a little.
Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Rub the cumin and cinnamon all over the duck legs with plenty of salt and some ground black pepper, and roast for 15-20 mins. Meanwhile, cook the bulghar wheat following pack instructions, then drain well. Heat a dry griddle pan, brush the halved plums with a little olive oil and griddle for about 5 mins on either side. Set everything aside to cool a little while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the green beans and cook for 2-4 mins until tender but still with some bite. Drain under cold running water to cool.
Whisk together all the dressing ingredients with plenty of seasoning.
When the duck is cool enough to handle, shred the meat and crispy skin from the bones. Transfer to a platter with the roasted plums, pomegranate seeds, red onion, bulghar wheat, green beans, flaked almonds, feta and herbs. Toss everything together gently with the dressing and eat immediately.