Loosely based on the Georgian dish satsivi, the addition of pomegranate mollases is a toast to my good friend's mum's legendary Iranian fesanjan. I find it cuts through the richness of the walnuts, creating a balanced, delicious, rich sauce. Notched up in decadence (and saturated fat) by confiting the duck, this is a real showcase dinner dish and went down a treat at our 'Georgian Grapes' event.
Serves 4 - 6
For the confit:
4 Duck legs
2 x 300g Jars Duck fat
Rock Salt
Black Pepper
2 tbsp tarragon (dried or fresh)
For the sauce:
150g walnuts
Knob of butter
1 small onion
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp ground coriander
Chicken/duck stock
2 tbsp pomegranate mollases
Serves 4 - 6
For the confit:
4 Duck legs
2 x 300g Jars Duck fat
Rock Salt
Black Pepper
2 tbsp tarragon (dried or fresh)
For the sauce:
150g walnuts
Knob of butter
1 small onion
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp ground coriander
Chicken/duck stock
2 tbsp pomegranate mollases
Stage 1: Confit the Duck
Stage 2: Make the Sauce
Stage 3: Crisp up the Duck and Assemble
- In a small bowl make the curing salt by mixing a handful of rock salt with 2 tbsp tarragon and a generous grind of black pepper
- Lay out the duck legs in a large oven dish and coat both sides of the duck with the curing salt
- Refrigerate for 24 hours
- Rinse excess salt of the duck legs under the tap and pat the legs dry
- Place in a saucepan with 2 jars of duck fat (the duck fat should be covering the duck legs - a narrow bottomed saucepan will help with this)
- Bring to a very gentle simmer and leave for around 2.5 hours (when the meat comes away from the duck easily, it is ready).
- Leave to cool in the saucepan and then place in the fridge (the fat will set hard - you can keep the duck like this for days or even weeks before use).
Stage 2: Make the Sauce
- Finely dice the onion and sweat down slowly with a knob of butter in a saucepan
- Blitz the walnuts and spices in a food processor
- Add ground walnut and spice mixture to the onion
- Add stock to the sauce to loosen it (around 100ml should do)
- Add pomegranate mollases (some people like it more tart - in which case add more than 2 tbsp)
- Season to taste
Stage 3: Crisp up the Duck and Assemble
- Gently heat the saucepan to melt the fat and allow retrieval of the duck legs
- Place duck legs into a medium-high heat saucepan and fry both sides for a few minutes (the duck should be crispy on the outside and warm in the middle)
- Plate the duck and spoon over some of the walnut sauce. Garnish with fresh tarragon.
- Alternatively, if the duck legs are sizeable and you want them to go a bit further - remove the skin from the duck, heat the duck through and pull the meat off with a fork. Fry the skin for a few minutes on a high heat separately and shatter and scatter over the pulled duck meat and sauce.