Five-spice honey glazed roast duck with a sherry berry sauce

SERVES 6 INGREDIENTS FOR THE SAUCE

200g tinned pitted cherries in syrup, drained

120ml drained cherry syrup

80g caster sugar

60g dried cranberries

60g raspberries or any of your favourite berries

1 orange, zest only

½ tsp five-spice powder

1 cinnamon stick

50ml sherry

1 to 2 tbsp arrowroot mixed with

2 tbsp water, to thicken sauce

FOR THE ROASTED DUCK

1 whole duck (about 1.5kg) Salt to rub over duck

FOR THE CAVITY

1 onion, roughly sliced 1 orange, sliced in wedges 2 sprigs bay leaves

1 star anise

FOR THE GLAZE

70ml honey

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar 60ml orange juice

½ tsp ground cumin ¼ tsp ground allspice

Sprigs of bay leaves, to garnish

Pomegranate seeds, to garnish

Dried orange slices, to garnish (optional)

METHOD

1 To prepare the sauce, add all the ingredients to the saucepan except the arrowroot. Bring it to the boil, turn the heat to low, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. To thicken the sauce, make a paste from the arrowroot with 2 tbsp of cold water. Add about ¾ of the arrowroot paste and stir until thick – add the rest of the paste if you feel it needs to be thicker. Set aside until cool; it will keep in the fridge for several days.

2 To prepare the whole duck, place the onion, orange, bay leaves and star anise into the cavity and close the neck flap with a cocktail stick or small skewer. Score the duck breast. Rub salt over the duck.

3 Place the duck into a large roasting tray and pour over 2 litres of boiling water. Leave for 4 minutes until the skin has tightened. 4 Take it out of the water, pat dry and place back into the fridge, uncovered for 4 hours or overnight. 5 Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6. Combine all the ingredients for the glaze together and spoon some onto the duck generously.

6 Place on a rack / trivet on a roasting tray and roast for ½ hour. Spoon more glaze on and lower the temperature to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4 and roast for a further 50 minutes. Pour the duck fat into a container for later use for the potatoes.

7 Depending on the weight of the duck, you may need to roast for longer. To check that the duck is done, insert a thermometer in the thickest part and the reading should be 74°C.

8 Cover and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Arrange on a serving platter, garnish with sprigs of bay leaves around the platter and add the pomegranate wedges around the duck.

Serve with warm berry sherry sauce.