Roast Duck Breast with Red Wine Gravy Recipe

Preheat the oven to 200°C (Gas Mark 6). Put the prepared potatoes into a roasting tray and drizzle with 1 tbsp of the oil, half of the chopped rosemary and all the lemon zest. Season with salt and pepper, toss everything together, then put in the hot oven and roast for 20 minutes. In a jug or small bowl, mix the remaining rosemary and oil together with the cumin seeds, then crush in the garlic cloves – this will be used when you cook the duck.

Put a frying pan over a high heat. Use a sharp knife to score across the skin on each duck breast a couple of times (this will help them to release their natural fat when cooking), then add them to the hot pan, skin-side down. Reduce the heat and cook for 6 minutes, or until crisp, then turn and cook for a further 6 minutes on the other side. Next, take the tray containing the potatoes out of the oven and place it close to the hob. Brush the duck breasts with the oil, rosemary, cumin and garlic mixture, then carefully lift them out of the frying pan and into the tray with the potatoes. Put the potato/duck tray back into the oven and roast for another 10 minutes.

While the duck roasts with the potatoes, make the gravy and cook the broccoli. Fill and boil your kettle, then put the frying pan you used to cook the duck back on a medium-high heat and pour in the wine, bringing it to a boil and then reducing to a simmer, stirring all the while so that the duck fat and cooking juices are incorporated. Simmer for 5 minutes, then stir in the redcurrant jelly and take the pan off the heat. Use the boiled water from the kettle to half-fill a large saucepan, bring it to a boil, then add the broccoli florets, reduce to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until just tender. Drain the broccoli, and take the roasting tray out of the oven. Slice the duck, then divide duck, potatoes and broccoli evenly between two serving plates, taking them to the table with the red wine gravy alongside in a jug or gravy-boat.