Gizzi's Thai Roast Duck & Watermelon Salad

If you want to make just one dish to celebrate the Thai new year try Gizzi Erskine's fabulous Thai-style duck and watermelon salad from her most recent book Gizzi's Healthy Appetite.

Do note though, before you start, that you need a pan large enough to take a whole duck and that you need to make the Thai dressing and the crispy shallots before the duck finishes roasting. Otherwise it's dead easy, as fellow cookery writer Sabrina Ghayour who took the pic below will attest.

Gizzi writes: "One of my most memorable cooking experiences was when I worked at Min Jiang at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, which is famous for its roast duck and dim sum. I spent a day learning all the secrets to the perfect Crispy Peking Duck. It’s no mean feat.

First, air is blown under the duck’s skin to separate the skin from the flesh. The duck is doused in searing hot syrup to constrict and glaze the skin, then it is left to dry overnight. It’s then roasted at a really hot temperature and actually served pink. The skin is carved away and the duck is sliced rather than shredded and served with plum sauce, spring onions, cucumber and pancakes.

I’ve made my recipe a bit more user-friendly. Essentially, you are just giving the duck a hot bath in molten liquor for a few minutes before drying it out in the fridge overnight and then roasting it. It’s no more effort than marinating something the night before, just a little more unusual. I’ve paired the duck with the most deelish Thai watermelon salad, inspired by chef Ian Pengelley, but feel free to serve the duck the classic way with pancakes if you prefer."

SERVES 4

PREPARATION TIME

30 minutes, plus drying overnight

COOKING TIME

1 1/2 hours

2 litres water

1 star anise

1 slice of galangal or ginger, bruised

2 spring onions, split down the middle

5 tablespoons maltose or (if you really can’t find it) honey

4 tablespoons light soy sauce

2 tablespoons salt

1 free-range duck, about 1.2–3kg, not too fatty

Thai Salad Dressing (see below)

lime wedges, to serve

For the salad

½ medium watermelon, cut into small cubes

100g cashew nuts or peanuts, roasted

a small handful of Thai basil leaves

a small handful of mint leaves

a small handful of coriander leaves

1 shallot, finely sliced

Crispy Shallots (see below)

You will also need a saucepan large enough to fit the whole duck

Place the water, star anise, galangal or ginger, spring onions, maltose or honey, soy sauce and salt in the saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Bring back to the boil, scoop out the aromatics, and then plunge the duck, skin-side up, into the water and immerse it fully. You may need to keep it pushed down with a wooden spoon. Bring to the boil for 3 minutes, then quickly remove the duck and dry fully on kitchen paper.

Clear a shelf in the fridge, lay a few sheets of cling film on the shelf, and then place some kitchen paper on top. Next, lay a wire rack on top of this. Place the duck on the wire rack and leave to dry in the fridge for 15 hours. The duck skin will feel like wax paper when it’s dry.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Place the duck on a rack in an oven tray and fill the tray with 300ml water. If you want classic roast Chinese duck that’s still pink, roast the duck for 40 minutes, or until the skin is crisp and golden; if you want crispy duck, cook for 60 minutes, turning the oven down to 180°C/Gas Mark 4 after 30 minutes. Leave the duck to rest for 10 minutes before carving. Carve off the legs and use two forks to shred the leg meat, removing the bones as you go.

Next, if you’re serving your duck pink, remove the breasts with the skin intact and cut widthways into slices; or you can shred it like crispy duck. Sprinkle over a tiny bit of salt, then arrange on one side of a large serving platter.

Place the watermelon on the platter and scatter over the nuts, herbs, shallot slices and Crispy Shallots. Serve with the Thai Salad Dressing and lime wedges.

THAI SALAD DRESSING

SERVES 4

150ml water

200g palm sugar

3–4 Thai red chillies, sliced

1 lemon grass stick, bruised

1 small piece of galangal or fresh root ginger, about 5cm x 2.5cm, bruised

5 lime leaves, torn

2 tablespoons tamarind paste

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice

Boil all the ingredients together in a saucepan over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until it has reduced and is like honey. It needs to be thicker and morepotent than your average dressing because it will be diluted with all the juice the watermelon lets out. Leave to cool.

CRISPY SHALLOTS

SERVES 8

4 tablespoons coconut or rapeseed oil

4 banana shallots, thinly sliced into rings

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a low heat and fry the shallots for 10–15 minutes, or until they start to crisp up and turn a light golden colour. Scoop out the shallots and drain on some kitchen paper.

What to drink: I'd break my normal rule of pinot noir with duck for this recipe - I think an aromatic white such as pinot gris or gewurztraminer would pair much better with the Thai-style dressing. Or a fruity rosé such as this one which featured in my match of the week slot recently.

Recipe from Gizzi's Healthy Appetite, by Gizzi Erskine is published by Mitchell Beazley, £25

Top pic: The Gaztronome. Middle pic: Sabrina Ghayour

Home Economists Sofia Johansson, Anna Jones, Emily Ezekiel, Kat Mead.

Pot Roast Pork with Fennel, Olives, Oranges & Oregano

If you're looking for a Sunday roast with a twist try this gorgeous Spanish-inspired pork recipe from Richard Turner's amazing new book, Hog*. Not least 'cos it mentions me in the intro ;-)

"Although not particularly authentic, this braise was inspired by stews I’ve eaten in Ibiza and is redolent of a hot Iberian summer. Fiona Beckett, a long time oenophile and dispenser of sage advice, recommends a glass or two of Santa Maria del Camí Binissalem from neighbouring Mallorca.

Serves 4

1.5kg boned and rolled pork shoulder

Maldon sea salt flakes

50ml olive oil

2 onions, halved through the root

2 fennel bulbs, halved through the root

4 garlic cloves, sliced

200ml dry white wine

1 litre pork broth or stock

200ml fresh orange juice

400g can chopped tomatoes

100g pitted green olives

2 large oranges, segmented

2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves

hot smoked paprika, for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6.

Score the skin of the pork with a sharp knife, making small incisions 2cm apart, then rub the skin with salt.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large flameproof casserole over a medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and cook for 10 minutes until just softened and golden. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the white wine and reduce by half. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil and reduce by half, then add the orange juice and tomatoes.

Sit the pork in the vegetables and place in the oven, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Add the olives, then cook for a further 20 minutes until the pork is cooked through.

Turn the oven off, add the orange segments and oregano and allow to rest in the oven for 30 minutes before transferring to a chopping board to carve.

Serve the pork along with the vegetables, olives and orange segments, drizzled with a spoonful of the pan juice. The lightest dusting of hot smoked paprika at the end adds a lovely warming character.

*Subscribers can win a copy of the book this month! All you need to do is register on the website then send an email to giveaways@matchingfoodandwine.com with 'Hog book' in the subject line by Sunday 26th April 2015.

What to drink: As Richard says I'm a fan of Santa Maria del Camí Binissalem - a robust blend of the local Mante Negro blended with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah which is normally listed by Marks & Spencer but seems to be currently out of stock. A good Côtes du Rhône or other grenache-based red should also work.

Photo © Paul Winch-Furness

Orange and Cointreau syllabub

Syllabub - a velvety-smooth concoction of sweet wine and cream - is one of the great English desserts, dating from the 16th century. At this time of year I like to make it with orange rather than lemon, topped with an irresistibly crunchy mixture of orange zest and sugar.

Serves 6

150ml southern French muscat or similar sweet white wine
1 tablespoon Cointreau or other orange liqueur
The finely grated rind of 2 unwaxed oranges
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 tablespoons unrefined caster sugar
400ml chilled double cream

You will also need a large bowl, chilled for 30-40 minutes in the fridge or for 15 minutes in the freezer

Pour the wine into a bowl, add the Cointreau, half the grated orange rind, the orange and lemon juice and 2 tbsp of the caster sugar. Stir, cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Strain through a fine sieve. Pour the cream into a large chilled bowl and beat with an electric hand-held beater until it starts to thicken. Add the orange-flavoured wine, bit by bit, beating between each addition until the cream thickens again. (Don’t overbeat it, or it will separate. Aim for a thick pouring consistency.)

When the final addition of wine has been incorporated the mixture should hold a trail when you lift out the beaters but shouldn’t be stiff.) Ladle the mixture into individual glass dishes and chill for at least an hour before serving. In the meantime mix the remaining orange zest and sugar and leave it on a plate to crisp up. (If you want to make it further ahead put it in a sealed plastic box.) Just before serving sprinkle the orange sugar over the top of each glass.

What to drink:
Although you might think the citrus and sweet wine might pose problems the amount of cream actually makes this a very wine-friendly dessert that would match well with the same type of wine you use in the syllabub. We drank a pretty, peachy Tabali Encantado Late Harvest Muscat from Chile with it which went very well.

Cranberry gin sling jellies with spiced cream

A simple and delicious Christmas dessert from my mate Sarah Randell, food director of Sainsbury's Magazine, which combines two of my favourite things, jelly and cocktails.

Sarah says: An elegant and refreshing dessert with a cheeky alcoholic kick. To make the jellies low-fat (as if you'd be worried about that at Christmas FB) top each with a scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt instead of the cream.

Prep 15 mins
Total time 20 mins, plus setting
Get ahead Make the jellies up to the end of step 3 one day ahead

6 leaves fine-leaf gelatine (Sarah used Supercook Select)

500ml cranberry juice

100g caster sugar

75ml gin

3 tbsp sweet vermouth

1 wine-mulling spice bag

1 cinnamon stick

a dash of Angostura bitters

To finish

150ml whipping cream

a pinch each of ground cinnamon, cloves
and ginger

1 tbsp icing sugar

a few fresh cranberries, tossed in caster sugar

1 Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 10 minutes.

2 In a pan, gently heat the cranberry juice, sugar, gin, vermouth, wine-mulling spice bag and cinnamon stick. Simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and add the gelatine leaves (squeezed of excess water). Stir until dissolved. Add the Angostura bitters.

3 Remove the spice bag and cinnamon stick. Pour the liquid into four glasses. Cool, cover and chill overnight.

4 Whip the cream with the spices and icing sugar. Top each jelly with the spiced cream and a cranberry or two.

Sarah is also the author of Weekend Baking and co-author of The Camper Van Cookbook and Camper Van Coast. You can find more of her recipes, posts and cooking tips on the new Sainsbury's Magazine blog Kitchen Secrets

Photo © Martin Poole