Cooking a duck breast would seem to be simple but, from watching cookery programmes, I know that it can be tricky. In Magrets & Mushrooms, Jeanne Strang proposes a different method for magret de canard / fattened duck breast which I was keen to try as it seemed to be foolproof. I scored the fat with a sharp knife and rubbed salt crystals into it. I marinated for a couple of hours with bay leaves, thyme, piment d’Espelette and a little Armagnac, then put into a warm oven of 45 minutes. At this stage, most of the fat had been rendered but, I crisped the skin a little more in a hot frying pan, then left to rest for 10 minutes My assessment is that while this is a simple method, I didn’t get quite the result I was looking for, which is a crisp on the outside (and most of the fat melted) and pink and juicy on the inside. So, next time, I will try the frying pan method again!

I am really enjoying revisiting some of the recipes from Goose Fat & Garlic. It doesn’t seem so scary second time round and I feel that I can experiment. We had lou magret / duck breast last night – a classic dish from south-west France, and one often chosen by contestants in cooking competitions (and not always with success!). As before, I made some cross-cuts in the fat and rubbed in plenty of coarse sea salt. I sprinkled with herbs and Armagnac, and left to marinate for an hour. I then cooked in a heavy frying pan fat side down for 10 minutes, but ensuring that the heat was low, so that there was time for the fat to run out without burning the crust. I spooned this away from time to time, also putting the steak on its sides to do the edges. Then I increased the heat and cooked on the other side for six minutes. I removed the steak to a warm plate to rest for 10 minutes under foil. It didn’t look like there was anything left in the pan but, once deglazed with a little vinegar and some vegetable stock added plus some butter, there was a spoonful or two of delicious sauce. My efforts might not be up to Masterchef standard, but I was pretty pleased with them!

We are back in France and so time to cook duck again. I followed the recipe I have used before, but this time there was an addition to make the recipe for le magret de canard à la vieille prune et au verjus / breast of fattened duck with plum brandy and verjuice. Once the magret was cooked, I heated some plum brandy, set it alight (a lot of flame!), then poured it over the meat which was resting in it’s frying pan. I swilled the juices and residues around with a little verjuice, and added some cooked chestnuts. I carved the duck into slices allowing the meat juices to add to the sauce. The result was super – succulent meat with floury, sweet chestnuts complementing the sharp, but very tasty, gravy.