BRAISED DUCK SALAD WITH POMEGRANATE, JUNIPER & GINGER

I once saw Jamie Oliver do something like this (though

I never managed to get the recipe) a few years ago at a Good Food Show. The audience consisted of 2,000 schoolchildren and even before he appeared they were pretty hysterical, shouting, ‘Jamie, Jamie!’ at the top of their lungs while music pounded and the word JAMIE pulsed in neon colours. There was a huge drum kit on one side of the stage and he leapt onto the stool and played a riff with all the expertise of a rock star. Then he came centre stage and gave a cookery demonstration, involving kids from the audience at every step, with two of them shredding the duck, others chopping, peeling and so on. I remember his trick with the pomegranate: instead of following my method below, he bashed the fruit all over (like you might tap a hard-boiled egg to make peeling it easy), then cut it in half and squeezed the fruit in his fists, holding them high over the bowl. The seeds and juice rained down on the salad.

Serves 6

5 celery sticks, finely diced

1 large red onion, finely chopped 6 garlic cloves, crushed

6cm (2½in) piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2tsp juniper berries (see tip)

Juice and finely grated zest of 1 orange A glug of vegetable oil 2tsp za’atar (see tip) 4 duck legs, skin on Salt and black pepper 1 large pomegranate 1 bunch of spring onions, finely sliced on the diagonal For the dressing

Juice of half a lemon 2tbsp pomegranate molasses 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Put the celery, onion, garlic and ginger in the bottom of a shallow casserole dish. Bash the juniper berries lightly in a small pestle and mortar (or in a bowl with the end of a rolling pin) and add them to the casserole. Add the orange juice and zest and drizzle with a good glug of vegetable oil. Give it a good mix and spread out to make a bed for the duck legs.

Rub the za’atar all over the duck legs and lay them on top of the vegetables in the casserole. Season well with salt and pepper. Now simply place in the oven and cook, uncovered, for roughly 1½ hours, depending on the size of your duck legs. The duck is done when the flesh easily pulls away from the bone with the touch of a fork.

Meanwhile, remove the seeds from the pomegranate. The best method for this is to score the tough outer skin into quarters. Submerge the fruit in a large, deep bowl of cold water and, using your hands, gently pull apart the quarters and ease out the seeds with your fingers. The seeds will sink to the bottom and the skin and pith will float to the top and can be scooped away. Drain off the water and the seeds remain. (Don’t leave the seeds in the water too long – tip them out onto kitchen paper to dry.)

Remove the duck from the oven. Pour off the fat from the vegetables. Allow the duck to cool for a few minutes to make removing the meat from the bones easier. Shred the duck meat and skin and tip into a large mixing bowl. Tumble the duck together with the roasted vegetables and then turn out onto a generous serving platter.

Make the dressing by combining the lemon juice, pomegranate molasses and olive oil. Drizzle over the top of the duck salad, then top with the pomegranate seeds and sliced spring onions. Serve before the duck cools completely.