Crispy Duck Salad - Served With Love At Cascarot Hotel

And now a note from Elizabeth McQuinn at Cascarot in France. The beautiful photos are by Lisa Schierscher. If you feel like a break in France, you must look Elizabeth up and stay at Cascarot.

This is a favourite recipe from the very talented Tom Kerridge. 

The duck can be made ahead and frozen for another time, it just needs to be warmed through gently in a slow oven well covered in foil to keep it moist. The colours are so cheerful in the dish and I love to serve it in a large flat white bowl, like a pasta bowl.

Ingredients

• 4 large duck legs
• ½ chilled watermelon, skin removed, flesh chopped
• 1 fresh pomegranate, seeds only
• ½ bunch fresh mint, leaves picked and roughly torn
• large bunch coriander, leaves picked and stalks chopped
• 1-2 red chillies (to taste)
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
• 2 limes, juice only
• ½ tsp ground Sichuan pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Place a wire rack on a roasting tin and place the duck legs on top, skin-side up. Roast the duck legs on the rack for 1¾-2 hours, or until the skin is crisp and the meat is cooked through (when the duck is cooked, the juices should run clear when a skewer is inserted into the thickest part of the leg). Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes, reserving the duck fat on the baking tray.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the chopped watermelon and pomegranate seeds. Stir in the mint leaves and coriander and the sliced chillies, to taste.
4. When the duck legs have cooled, flake the meat from the bone and add it to the watermelon and pomegranate mixture. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice and a little of the reserved duck fat, to taste, if desired. Season with Sichuan pepper and gently toss.
5. Serve the salad immediately, while the watermelon is cold and the duck meat still warm.