Spiced rhubarb makes a vibrant relish beside tender sliced duck breast and glossy red cabbage
Diana Henry
The Telegraph's award-winning cookery writer
Diana Henry is the Telegraph’s much-loved cookery writer. She shares recipes each week, for everything from speedy family dinners to special menus that friends will remember for months. She is also a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4, and her journalism and recipe books, including Simple and How to Eat a Peach, are multi-award-winning. A mother of two sons, Diana can satisfy even the fussiest of eaters.
Published
Requires 2 hours marinating
Overview
Prep time
20 mins
Cook time
2 hrs
Serves
6
Ingredients
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp sea salt
- 6 fat duck breasts
For the red cabbage
- ½ red cabbage
- 15g butter
- ½ red onion, very finely sliced
- ¼ tsp mixed spice
- 2 tbsp soft light-brown sugar
- 50ml cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp blackberry or redcurrant jelly
For the relish
- 200ml cider vinegar
- 300g granulated sugar
- 6 juniper berries, crushed
- 1 red onion, very finely sliced
- 350g trimmed rhubarb
Method
Step
Crush 1 tsp black peppercorns and 3 bay leaves roughly in a mortar and pestle.
Step
Add 2 tbsp sea salt, crushing it slightly, but don’t grind finely.
Step
Rub the mixture all over 6 fat duck breasts. Place them in a dish, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (overnight if possible).
Step
Remove the softer outer leaves and hard central core of ½ red cabbage. Halve and shred the cabbage.
Step
Heat 15g butter in a heavy-bottomed casserole and gently sauté ½ very finely sliced red onion until it softens – it shouldn’t brown.
Step
Add the cabbage and ¼ tsp mixed spice and turn everything over in the butter, gently cooking for about 2 minutes.
Step
Add 2 tbsp soft light-brown sugar and 25ml of the cider vinegar (you may not need the rest).
Step
Bring to the boil, season, then turn the heat right down, cover the pan and cook very gently for one to 1 hour and 30 minutes, turning the cabbage over every so often.
Step
About 3 minutes before the end add the jelly, turn up the heat and remove the lid to reduce the cooking juices and melt 1 tbsp blackberry or redcurrant jelly – it may take a little longer. The cabbage should start to look more glossy. Taste for the sweet-sour balance – you may need to add the rest of the vinegar.
Step
Keeping the heat medium-high, turn the cabbage with a wooden spoon and allow any juices to evaporate. The cabbage should be quite shiny but not watery. Check the seasoning.
Step
Meanwhile, put 200ml cider vinegar, 300g granulated sugar and 6 crushed juniper berries in a pan and bring to the boil, stirring to help the sugar dissolve. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Step
Add 1 very finely sliced red onion and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
Step
Add 350g trimmed rhubarb and simmer very gently for about 4 minutes, or until it is just tender. The rhubarb should remain pink and hold its shape. Leave to cool. Cover and refrigerate (but let it come to room temperature before serving).
Step
Preheat the oven to 220C/210C fan/gas mark 7.
Step
Brush the bay leaves off the duck.
Step
Heat a sauté pan and brown the duck breasts in their own fat, skin-side-down first, for about 3 minutes. Be careful not to burn the fat.
Step
Quickly brown the other sides, then put the duck breasts, skin-side up, in a roasting-tin and cook for 5 minutes. (Slice through the centre of the meat to check it’s done – it should be pink, like rare steak.)
Step
Remove the duck, cover with foil and leave to rest for about 4 minutes.
Step
Serve sliced on top of the cabbage with the rhubarb alongside.