Crisp Roast Duck with a Confit of Rhubarb and Ginger & Courgettes and Tomatoes au Gratin

Last night Colin served up an extremely mouth watering dish of the following delights:

Crisp Roast Duck with a Confit of Rhubarb and Ginger


Ingredients

4 breasts of duck
sea salt and freshly milled black pepper

Rhubarb and ginger confit:

500g rhubarb cut into 2 cm lengths
500ml dry cider/150ml cider vinegar
125g golden caster sugar
1 heaped teaspoon of finely grated fresh ginger



Method

1. To make the confit place all the ingredients in a large saucepan, stir well, then simmer

2. Turn the heat down to its lowest and let it simmer gently, without a lid, for 45-50 minutes. Don’t stir it at any stage as this will make the pieces of rhubarb mushy. It wil be ready when it's covered with a darkly glaze.

3. Season the breasts of duck and pan fry them until golden brown on the fat side and done on the meat side.


Courgettes and Tomatoes au Gratin

Ingredients

4 medium courgettes, sliced but not peeled
4 large tomatoes, skinned and sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large clove garlic, crushed
110g Mozzarella cut into slices
4 level tablespoons grated Parmesan
1 level tablespoon fresh torn basil
salt and freshly milled black pepper





Method

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan large enough to hold the courgettes in one layer (otherwise do them in two batches), add the crushed garlic and sauté the courgette slices to a nice golden colour on each side.

2.Aarrange layers of courgettes, cheese slices and sliced tomatoes in a heatproof gratin dish so that they overlap each other slightly like slates on a roof. Finally sprinkle on the grated Parmesan, basil and salt and freshly milled pepper. Then bake on a high shelf in the oven for 30 minutes.