Serves 2

Prep time 1 hour

Ingredients

Duck breasts, 2, skin on
Carob syrup, 2tbsp
Star anise, 2 pods
Peaches, 2, thinly sliced in rounds, juices reserved
Purple potatoes, 2, thinly sliced in rounds
New potatoes, 2, thinly sliced in rounds
Red potatoes, 2, thinly sliced in rounds
Beetroot, 1, thinly sliced in rounds
Red onion, 1, thinly sliced in rounds
Heritage carrots, 6, quartered lengthwise
Olive oil, as needed
Salt, as needed
Pepper, as needed

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Place all thinly sliced rounds of potato on one baking tray, the peaches and onion on another and a separate dish for the beetroot. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for around 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender and slightly golden. Meanwhile, add the reserved peach juices, carob syrup and star anise to a small sauté pan and allow to reduce with your carob syrup. In the case of over reducing add a few drops of water.

Use a very sharp knife to score the fat of your duck breast. Do this by slicing the fat several times on a bias, 2 thirds of the way down. Do not go too deep and pierce the meat as this will dry out your duck. Place a non-stick frying pan on a medium to low heat and place the duck, fat side down. Gently hold the duck breast down on the pan to avoid curling. Patiently render the fat, pouring out accumulated fat into a bowl every five minutes until you are left with a golden and crispy skin. This can sometimes take around 15 minutes but is worth the effort to avoid an unpleasantly fatty skin. Once the skin is about two thirds thinner, turn up the heat in your pan and rotate the duck to seal the meat sides. Toss the carrots into the pan, season with salt, toss with residual fat and cook for a couple of minutes. Baste your duck skin with the peaches and carob syrup and pop the whole pan in the oven for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for a further 5 minutes. Reserve the duck fat to cook delicious potatoes!

Plate your onions, overlapped by the beetroots and then the peach. Slice the duck on a bias and season generously with salt. Fan out on the side of the dish and drizzle the plate with the remaining carob syrup. Serve the potatoes on the side.

Duck breasts were supplied by Snow White Poultry.