Roasted Duck Leg Ragu with Raisins

Serve with lots of Parmesan!

Who doesn't love ragu? I love it, and I'm usually partial to a long stewed beef ragu. I decided to see what I could do with some duck. I had an idea for a long time that duck would be good stewed as a ragu. When I got hold of some duck. it was duck legs on the bone and instead of boiling or deboning the legs I decided to roast them. After I roasted the legs I took the meat off the bone and then started the sauce. The result was amazing, in my opinion of course. I admit the idea for using the raisins wasn't just from a recipe that I previously read from Jamie Oliver, but I think the similarities are spot on and he knows what he's talking about here. Mostly when you cook something for a long time, it tends to get bitter. When cooking different types of cuisines that play on that sweet and sour note, you tend to have an instinct to throw in a dried fruit of some kind to counteract the bitterness that sometimes tinned tomatoes can cause. My mom and most recipes when cooking a bolognese call to add a bit of brown sugar or something. The raisins seemed to be a perfect hit and really fell apart and dissipated in the sauce and you'd never know they were there. Everything about this recipe is great especially the fact that you can do it ahead. You can roast the legs well in advance and take the meat off the bone and let it sit for a few days if you want. The sauce itself only takes a bit of boiling for about 45 minutes, and the results are really amazing.

I think this is a fantastic dish for anyone to try if they want minimal amount of work to impress someone. If you make the duck ahead of time then there's little to nothing to do for the sauce. I served this with store made fresh pasta and the second time I made it I tried to make my own pasta. I don't recommend ruining such a nice dish with your own experimentals, but definitely get hold of some good tagliatelle or pappardelle, something nice and thick to soak up the sauce. Serve with some nice garlic bread and a rocket salad. This recipe serves 2-3, but you can easily double the ingredients for a larger amount.

Ingredients:
2 duck legs
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 medium carrot
1 rib celery
2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion
250ml red wine
¼ c. raisins or sultanas
1 sprig rosemary (leaves removed and chopped)
½ tbsp. Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Parmesan

To Start:
Place the duck legs in a small pan and roast for a couple of hours on 180C.
When done set aside and cool to room temperature, then remove the meat from the bone.

For the Ragu:
Dice the onion, celery and carrot and crush the garlic.
In a medium saucepan heat the oil, when hot add in the celery, carrot and onion saute for about 5 minutes.
Next add the wine and boil for another 2-3 minutes or until the alcohol evaporates.
When it's at least reduced by half, add in the tinned tomatoes and the can of water.
Bring to a boil and then add in the garlic raisins and duck meat.
When the sauce is back up to a boil, turn down to a low-medium heat and boil for about 30-45 minutes. You want a thick consistency, and check for salt and pepper at the end.

Duck Leg and Pak Choi Fried Rice

I have posted a recipe for cauliflower fried  rice which turned out pretty good but I wanted to try with actual rice. I had some duck legs and pak choi which is in season (Spring/Early Summer) and I decided to roast the legs off and make duck fried rice. You can use any meat you’d like for this as well as various vegetables. I will use this as a template to discover new flavours when making fried rice. It is my strong recommendation to use cold white rice that's been cooked prior. Leftover rice is ideal.

Ingredients:

1-2c cooked white rice (2 cups serves 4)

100g mushrooms of your choice
2 duck legs (Roasted; see below)

1 pepper
1 carrot

1 medium onion

1-2 garlic cloves

1 large head of pak choi (you can also use 4 of the smaller bulbs)

2 eggs whisked

½ c. frozen peas

¼ c. soy sauce

2 tbsp. Thai sweet chilli sauce

4 tbsp. oil

Spring onions, coriander (optional garnish)

Roast the Duck Legs:
In a 200C oven, salt and pepper the legs and roast for about 45 min to 1hr depending on size, to test doneness yank on the leg and if it pulls off easily it's done.
When done remove from oven and let cool about 15 minutes, and tear off all meat and set aside.

To start:

Make sure that your rice cooked and cold.

Chop mushrooms, peppers, carrot, onions, set aside.

Dice garlic, and slice pak choi in thin slices.

Mix up soy sauce with Thai sauce and set aside.

To cook:

In a large pan or wok heat 2 tbsp oil until hot, add peppers, carrot, mushrooms, and onions.

Stir-fry until fragrant and starting to get tender about 5 mins.

Add the rice and stir to combine breaking down any clumps.

Add soy sauce and chilli sauce mixture, mix thoroughly.

When rice is heated through push all of the rice mixture to the side.

In the empty spot heat the remaining 2tbsp. of oil, when hot add the egg and scramble for about 2 minutes until nearly set.

Next combine the rice with the scrambled egg, add the garlic, peas and pak choi.

Stir continuously until the pak choi is tender and wilted.

Optional to garnish with spring onions and coriander leaves.

Serve immediately! Enjoy!

*Note: If you are going to use another type of meat, you can either cook it ahead of time (ie using leftover meats etc.) or if using raw meat, I would fry it with the vegetables and make sure it's cooked thoroughly before continuing with adding the rice.