Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

12 Extra Large Prunes; pitted 1 lg Onion; thinly sliced
450 ml Hot tea; orange pekoe best 1 tb Red wine vinegar
4 Duck legs; thigh drumstick 1 tb Dijon mustard
150 g Smoked pork belly/salt pork 450 ml Red wine; full bodied
-cut into 5cmx5mm lardons 350 ml Chicken stock; unsalted
2 Cloves garlic; peeled 3 md Carrots; peeled halved
1/2 ts Salt -lengthwise then across
1/4 ts Pepper Chopped parsley
1 pn Dried Thyme; crumbled

-----------------------GLAZED ONIONS----------------------------
18 sm White onions 1" diameter 1 1/2 ts Sugar
25 g Butter, unsalted 125 ml Water, stock or red wine

-----------------------GARLIC CROUTES----------------------------
1 Clove garlic -crusts removed each cut in
2 tb Olive oil -4 equal triangles
4 Thin slices white bread;

NB. 1. Don't be put off by the uninspiring name. This is a wonderful
recipe which makes excellent use of a part of the bird somewhat under
utilised. You can either use whole legs, or separate them. This
recipe should ideally be made with the legs from a duck fattened for
foie gras production. If you can't get hold of them, then use any
duck legs. You won't have as much fat to remove in the preliminary
frying process.

2. Don't leave out the bread croutes. They give an essential
character to the dish, and their presence means that you need no
other accompagniments to the dish. A green salad could follow.

Method ======

Soak pitted prunes in hot tea. Let stand 2 hours uncovered, at room
temperature. Drain reserving prunes.
Trim off excess fat from duck legs (essential for fatted ducks).
Render fat with 2 tbs of water. Strain, reserving 2 tbs for this
dish, keep the rest for some other purpose (saute potatoes to kill
for). Score the skin of the duck with the point of a small knife.
Wipe off excess moisture. (If you like, you can joint each leg into
thigh and drumstick).
Blanch lardons 3 minutes in boiling water; drain. Heat duck fat in
heavy frying pan over medium heat. Fry blanched lardons, turning
occasionally until light brown - about 4 minutes. Remove with a
slotted spoon, drain into pan, then de-fat on paper towel. Don't
remove crusty bits or fat from pan. Transfer lardons to large
casserole.
Cook duck pieces in the same fat over medium high heat, turning
occasionally until nicely browned on both sides (about 10 minutes).
The pan should be covered, and if you used fatted ducks, you may have
to remove and reserve excess fat from time to time. When cooked,
remove duck pieces with a slotted spoon and defat on paper towels.
Add duck pieces to lardons in casserole. Sprinkle with salt, pepper
and thyme, toss well to coat then add the first lot of garlic.
Remove all but 2 tbs of fat from the pan, taking care not to lose the
crusty bits. Add sliced onions and fry over medium heat, stirring
frequently until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove onions with slotted
spoon draining thoroughly, and add them to casserole.
Carefully remove fat from pan - making sure all crusted cooking
juices are retained. Add the vinegar and mustard. Whisk to combine
them then pour over 1/3 of the red wine. Heat to boiling, scraping up
brown bits that cling to the sides and bottom of the pan. Reduce to a
glaze. Add a further third of the wine and repeat the process.
Pour deglazing juices over meat in casseriole, then pour remaining
wine into frying pan, bring briefly to boil to evaporate alcohol, and
pour into casserole. Now add stock to frying pan, bring this to the
boil and pour into casserole. This makes sure that all the goodness
and flavour from the frying pan goes into the dish and not down the
drain.
Bring juices in casserole to boil, and simmer uncovered 5 minutes
skimming the surface from time to time. Add the carrots and simmer,
tightly covered until duck pieces are tender (about 1 1/2 hours).
This can be done either on top of the stove or in a preheated
300F/150C oven.
Drop the small onions into boiling water, and remove to cold water
after 5 - 10 seconds. Peel, making sure that you remove only the
minimum from root and leaf ends. They should stay intact during the
cooking process.
Combine onions, water, butter and sugar in a medium sized frying
pan. Heat over medium heat, simmer, stirring occasionally until water
has evaporated - abt 6 minutes. Reduce heat to low and cook onions,
shaking pan occasionally until tender and well browned, about another
8 minutes.
Alternatively, first fry for about 10 minutes, shaking almost all
the time, then to add the liquid which can be red wine and or stock
instead of water, together with a bouquet garni, and simmer over the
lowest possible heat until thoroughly tender. set aside until ready
to finish dish.
Heat butter and olive oil in a large frying pan until very hot. Fry
bread triangles, turning once, until golden brown on both sides.
Drain on paper towel, then rub each triangle lightly _one side only_
with the cut surface of the garlic clove.
30 minutes before serving, add onions (with juices) and prunes to
the dish, reheat gently simmer 15 minutes. Put duck in centre of
large serving dish, arrange remaining ingredients around, sprinkle
with parsley, cover and keep warm. Defat sauce, season, pour over.
Surround with warmed croutes, and serve.
Submitted By IAN HOARE On 08-20-95

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