Confit duck legs with cherry sauce

Read the full method and weigh the listed ingredients. Prepare the meat and vegetables as described in the ingredient list, keeping sauce, starch, garnish and working ingredients separate. Clean hands, boards and utensils after handling raw meat.

Rub duck legs with cure salt, crushed cure garlic and thyme. Cover.

Refrigerate for 8–12 hours; this schedule uses the minimum 8 hours.

Wipe the cure thoroughly with kitchen paper and pat legs dry.

Heat the oven to 100°C fan / 120°C conventional.

Allow about 15 minutes in total, checking the oven has reached its setting.

Melt the working duck fat gently. Arrange legs snugly in a casserole with bay and the curing aromatics.

Carefully pour melted fat over the legs until submerged and cover.

Check the oven setting and carefully put the prepared dish into the hot oven.

Cook covered for 3–3½ hours until a skewer meets almost no resistance. Keep the fat below a simmer and extend cooking if the meat still resists.

Check the stated readiness cue using a probe for cooked meat where specified. Carefully take the dish out and set it on a heatproof surface.

Lift legs out carefully and drain on a rack. Keep working fat separate; it is largely not eaten.

Heat the oven to 200°C fan / 220°C conventional.

Allow about 15 minutes in total, checking the oven has reached its setting.

Arrange confit legs skin-up on a separate roasting tray and put into the heated oven.

Roast for 20–25 minutes until skin is crisp and the legs are steaming hot throughout.

Check the stated readiness cue using a probe for cooked meat where specified. Carefully take the dish out and set it on a heatproof surface.

Add wine, scrape the browned residue from the pan and bubble until substantially reduced.

Add cherries, stock, balsamic and sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer.

Simmer for 12–15 minutes until cherries soften and sauce coats a spoon.

Stir, check the base is not catching and adjust the heat. Add the listed top-up water if needed.

Continue at a gentle simmer until the stated readiness cue is reached.

Stir, check the base is not catching and adjust the heat. Add the listed top-up water if needed.

Continue at a gentle simmer until the stated readiness cue is reached.

Take off the heat and whisk in cold butter. Season with listed pepper.

Serve hot duck skin-up with cherry sauce beside the flesh, keeping sauce off the crisp skin.