Recipe - Glynn Purnell's Duck with spiced plum jam

As a member of the BBC Good Food Show blogging community I was asked to take part in Stoves Winter recipe recreation.

A little bit about Stoves UK; Founded in 1920, Stoves is one of the UK’s best loved cooking brands. It is also one of the only major kitchen appliance brands still committed to manufacturing in the UK with 100% of its freestanding cookers, built-in ovens and hobs and range cookers assembled at its Merseyside headquarters. All products are designed and built in the UK specifically with British cooks in mind. Stoves is a founding member of the Made in Britain campaign championing British manufacturing.

As a regular visitor to the BBC Good Food Show's, I love to catch some of the live cookery demonstrations on the Stoves stand. Over the four days there were a host of celebrity chefs cooking up a storm; from Brian Turner to Phil Vickery, Glynn Purnell to Rachel Allen.  One of the recipes that caught my attention was Glynn Purnell's duck with spiced plum jam and watercress. I love duck and I have to admit it's something I don't cook that often as it can be a bit pricey... This was just way too tempting though. I added some shredded sweet potato to make it more of a substantial evening meal, baked in the oven for 20 minutes then finished off tossed in the remaining duck fat!

Glynn Purnell's Duck with Spiced Plum Jam and Watercress

Glynn says: "Big, juicy, spicy plums! Ooh errr, missus!

That’s what you need to cut through that rich duck and crisp pak choi to blend and balance. Duck is a fab meat either spiced up or classically served. I cook duck a lot and the kids love it. Fat and delicious!"

Ingredients

• 4 duck breasts
• 2 heads of pak choi
• A bunch of watercress
• Salt and freshly-ground black pepper

For the plum jam:

• 6 plums, stoned and chopped
• 200g caster sugar
• 200ml white wine vinegar
• 1 medium chilli, chopped
• Pinch of chilli powder
• 2 cloves of garlic, sliced
• Squeeze of lime juice
• Splash of soy sauce
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander
• Pinch of ginger powder

Method

• Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas 4.
• Begin by making the plum jam. Heat the sugar and vinegar until it starts to thicken.
• Add the chilli and chilli powder, garlic, lime juice and soy sauce. Add the chopped plums and cook until tender.
• Add the coriander, take off the heat and season with salt and ginger powder.
• Break the pak choi into individual leaves and split each leaf down the middle. Put to one side.
• Heat a frying pan. Slash the duck skin and place the breasts, skin side down, on the warm pan. Cook until the skin has caramelised (about 3 minutes). Pour off the excess fat and put it to one side.
• Lay the duck breasts, skin side down in a baking tin, and cook in the oven for 7–8 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for a few minutes.
• Pour the excess fat back into the frying pan and place on a medium heat. Once hot, add the pak choi and toss in the hot duck fat. Remove from the pan and season.
• Carve the duck into slices, arrange on top of the sweet potato (if using), serve with the pak choi and plum jam, garnished with watercress.

Enjoy xx