Roasted Provence Duck Leg & Orange Marmalade Jus Recipe Recipe

Roasted Duck Leg crusted in Herbs de Provence and Orange Marmalade Jus Recipe

The classic Duck a l’Orange has had lots of coverage by celebrity chefs with Heston Blumenthal’s bizarre attempt to smoke / incinerate a duck with an orange-scented smoke bomb and Gordon Ramsay’s cook off / along with Germaine Greer. So when on a recent food exploration trip of France I had a fantastic Duck Leg with Herbs de Provence, it got me thinking about how to combine the dishes.

The resulting Roasted Duck Leg crusted in Herbs de Provence and Orange Marmalade Jus Recipe combines the traditional rustic quality of roasted duck leg with the wow factor of Duck a l’Orange (made simple, of course). The duck can be slow cooked until nice and crispy ahead of time or you can use canned Duck Confit, which is equally good (and easier to store).

Roasted Duck Leg crusted in Herbs de Provence and Orange Marmalade Jus Ingredients

2 duck legs
Herbs de Provence
50 grams of butter
200 millilitres of veal or chicken stock (made from stock cube is fine)
100 grams of orange marmalade
Salt
Pepper

A roasted duck leg takes a little while to become tender in the oven, so to start the proceedings, pat the duck legs dry, season well with salt and pepper and rub generously with the Herbs de Provence. Prick the fat pockets with a skewer to allow fat to escape when cooking. Place the duck on the rack in oven and cook for 1 hour at 200 degrees with a container underneath to catch the drippings. This will allow the fat to render out of the duck and is very useful for making amazing roast potatoes.

Making the Marmalade Jus

1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan.
2. Once melted, add the marmalade.
3. Once marmalade has disolved, add the veal or chick stock and reduce for 5 minutes before serving.

Herbs de Provence (or Herbes de Provence) is typically a blend of dried savory, fennel, basil and thyme that became a ‘packaged’ herb mixture in the 1970s.