Duck legs with figs

Ever fed ducks? Then you know a duck is a smaller sort of chicken. Doesn’t cluck, doesn’t wander about, doesn’t lay eggs. Just swims and is smaller. And the little devil can fly, too. So, a smaller sort of chicken.

So you know a duck leg is more of a “baby” portion. It won’t fill you up. If you’re cooking for a bloke, give him at least two for dinner.

So I bought those two duck legs. I already had the figs, and somehow the two ended up together. I decided to cook duck differently this time. No, this isn’t a duck breast recipe, just my excuse for keeping what I’d bought from going to waste.

These legs are good done sweet like this, something completely different. They go beautifully with fig marmalade. I recommend it 🙂

At a glance: 

Prep time: 30 minutes

Roasting time: 2 hours and 15 minutes

Oven temperature: 180 degrees Celsius (fan oven)

Serves: the ingredients here are for two duck legs, enough for one serving. Scale up as you please, of course.

Calories: Brzechwa wrote a little rhyme that went, “By a stream, beside a bush, lived an odd duck.” By that odd duck’s reckoning, your calorie count is two whole packets’ worth 😉

Ingredients for tender duck leg meat:

• 2 duck legs
• 4 fresh figs
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• a tablespoon of dark soy sauce
• ground black pepper
• a teaspoon of Sichuan pepper
• 2 teaspoons cane sugar
• salt
• olive oil
• 1 carrot

How to make duck with a sweet twist:

All the magic, really, is in giving the legs a proper marinade. The oven does the rest 🙂

I started by washing the legs, patting them dry with kitchen paper and putting them in a plastic container.

I made the marinade in a small bowl. I chopped 2 figs into little pieces and added 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, a tablespoon of dark soy sauce, a little ground black pepper and some freshly crushed Sichuan pepper. I added a pinch of salt and some olive oil. I mixed everything thoroughly and coated the legs really well with the marinade.

I put the plastic lid on the container and left it in the fridge for 12 hours.

The next day I lined a roasting dish with foil and put the marinated duck legs in it.

I sliced the carrot into rounds and cut two figs into quarters.

I scattered the carrot and figs over the legs, poured more olive oil over everything and put it in the oven set to 180 degrees Celsius on fan.

I roasted them for about an hour and a half, turned the legs over and roasted them for another 40–50 minutes or so. All done. Enjoy!