Muddy Stilettos

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2023-12-05T115756.601.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-83499" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2023-12-05T115756.601.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2023-12-05T115756.601-600x600.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2023-12-05T115756.601-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2023-12-05T115756.601-525x525.jpg 525w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2023-12-05T115756.601-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Thank you Sky McAlpine, the cookery writer has created a duck dish that is right up our street. way: the skin salty-crisp like charred paper and the meat mouth-meltingly tender. The potatoes and the orange, sliced thin, cook in the same pan as the duck and infuse with the deeply flavoursome fat from the legs as they roast, intermingling with the sweet juices from the fruit. 



My preference is to arrange the slices of orange under the meat, as far as possible, which means that they soften and tenderise rather than crisp and turn bitter as they cook in the oven. It’s one of those delightful one-pan dishes that constitutes a complete meal in itself, though I often serve it with a bitter leaf salad on the side: just crisp, fresh leaves (ruby-red chicory or blush-pink radicchio) dressed with a little olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and a generous sprinkling of salt flakes.



Prep time: 20 mins Cooking time: 85 mins in the oven; 10 mins resting



Serves 2



<ul>
<li>2 duck legs</li>



<li>2 large potatoes (total weight 300–350g)</li>



<li>1 large orange</li>



<li>Small bunch of thyme</li>



<li>Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-method">METHOD</h2>



Heat the oven to 190 ̊C/170 ̊C fan/Gas 5. Fry the duck legs, skin side down, in a large pan (ideally one with a heatproof handle) for 3–5 minutes, until the skin is browned all over. Take the pan off the heat, lift the duck legs on to a plate and set to one side. Thinly slice the potatoes and the orange into rounds, roughly 5mm thick. 



Arrange most of the slices of orange in the centre of the same pan, and lay the duck on top of these, skin-side up. Arrange the potatoes overlapping in a single layer all around the duck and oranges, with the remaining slices of orange peeking out here and there. 



Season everything liberally with salt and pepper, sprinkling over a few thyme sprigs. Set in the oven and roast for 11⁄4 hours, or until both the duck legs and the potatoes are golden and exquisitely crisp. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2023-12-05T115849.157.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-83503" style="aspect-ratio:1;width:640px;height:auto" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2023-12-05T115849.157.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2023-12-05T115849.157-600x600.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2023-12-05T115849.157-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2023-12-05T115849.157-525x525.jpg 525w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Untitled-design-2023-12-05T115849.157-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Extract taken from <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Table-Full-Love-Celebrate-Everything/dp/1526657368/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=147467734687&amp;hvadid=636860418863&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvlocphy=1007155&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvqmt=e&amp;hvrand=3219763179477841856&amp;hvtargid=kwd-1920613505898&amp;hydadcr=24866_2248257&amp;keywords=a+table+full+of+love&amp;qid=1702485133&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A Table Full of Love</a> by Skye McAlpine (Bloomsbury, £26 Hardback) Photography © Skye McAlpine

Skye McAlpine’s roast duck legs with winter citrus recipe

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