Rick Stein Video Showcase

This is best served, in my opinion, with a frisee salad and braised red cabbage, which counterbalances the fattiness of the duck. You'll notice that the cure requires a markedly small amount of salt, leading to a definitely cured but sweet confit.

Ingredients
For the duck confit
4 large duck legs
100g/3½oz sel gris or rock salt
900g/2 lb duck or goose fat
For the braised red cabbage
500g/1 lb 1oz red cabbage, core removed and the rest thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
250g/8¾oz cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1½ tbsp white wine vinegar
1½ tbsp muscovado sugar
¼ tsp mixed ground spices, such as cloves, nutmeg and
cinnamon
½ tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
15g/½oz butter
To serve
frisee salad

Method
1. Make the duck confit at least 24 hours before you want to serve this dish. Place one duck leg in the bottom of a deep plastic, glass or stainless-steel bowl, sprinkle with a little of the salt, turn it over, sprinkle with more salt and add another duck leg. Continue until you've used up the duck legs and the salt.
2. Cover and leave in the fridge for six hours, turning the legs over halfway through. Don't leave them any longer or the duck will become too salty.
3. Preheat the oven to 140C/284F/Gas 1.
4. Rub the salt off the duck legs and pat them dry with kitchen paper. Bring the duck or goose fat to a gentle simmer in a casserole dish in which the duck legs will fit snugly. Add the legs, making sure they are completely submerged, cover and transfer the dish to the oven. Cook for one-and-a-half hours, then remove from the oven and leave to cool in the fat. Chill for at least 24 hours or until needed.
5. For the braised red cabbage, preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2. Layer the cabbage, onion, apples, vinegar, sugar, spices, salt and pepper into a small casserole dish, dot with butter and cover with a well-fitting lid. Leave to cook for three hours, stirring once or twice.
6. To serve, you can reheat the duck in one of two ways. Preheat the oven to 220C/428F/Gas 7. Lift the duck legs out of the fat and wipe off most but not quite all of it with kitchen paper. Put them skin-side up onto a rack resting over a roasting tin and roast for 15-20 minutes until the skin is crisp and golden and the meat has heated through. Alternatively, sauté the legs in a frying pan over a medium heat until crisp, golden and heated through. Either way they are delicious.
7. Spoon some of the red cabbage slightly to one side of four warmed plates and rest a piece of the duck confit on top. Pile some of the frisee salad alongside and serve.

Ingredients
For the salsa verde
15g flatleaf parsley leaves, chopped
5g mint leaves, chopped
3 tbsp capers
6 anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained
1 clove garlic, crushed
For the roasted salmon
4 large vine-ripened tomatoes, each cut into 8 slices
1 2.5kg/5½lb to 2.75kg/6lb salmon, scaled and filleted OR 2 1kg/1¼lb salmon fillets
1 tbsp capers
2 garlic cloves, sliced
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
1 large bunch fresh thyme
3 tablespoons olive oil
10 tablespoons water
salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the steamed potatoes
1.8kg/4lb of uniform-sized slightly waxy potatoes, such as Charlotte
20g/¾oz butter, melted
salt
For the warm green bean salad
500g/18oz fine green beans, stalk ends removed
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
7 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 bunch spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
2. For the salsa verde, combine the parsley and mint leaves, capers, anchovy fillets and one garlic clove. Mash together with a pestle and mortar to form a coarse paste and season to taste with a little salt.
3. Line the base of a large baking tray or roasting tin with a sheet of non-stick baking-paper and then lay the tomatoes in rows of four down the centre of the paper (diagonally if necessary so that your salmon will fit in the tin).
4. Scatter over a tablespoon of capers, garlic slices, half of the chilli flakes and all but one large sprig of the thyme.
5. Drizzle over three tablespoons of the oil, the water, and some salt, to taste. This will prevent the salmon from sticking and produce a lovely sauce to serve with the salmon.
6. Brush the skin-side of one salmon fillet with oil, season lightly with salt and place skin-side down on top of the tomatoes.
7. Lightly season with salt and then cover with the salsa verde mixture.
8. Lightly season the cut face of the second salmon fillet and place on top of the salsa verde covered salmon skin-side down.
9. Brush the skin with olive oil and scatter with the remaining chilli flakes and the leaves from the remaining thyme sprig. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
10. Roast the fish for 25 minutes, until the skin is lightly browned and the flesh still slightly pink in the centre.
11. Remove the salmon from the oven and leave it to rest briefly.
12. Using a small sharp kitchen knife, peel the potatoes from top to bottom, taking as wide a band of peel off each time as possible. Work around the potato to create a fairly uniform oval shape.
13. Bring 2.5cm/1in of water to the boil in a large pan, then reduce to a simmer. Lower a petal steamer into the pan (the boiling water should not reach the holes). Add the potatoes and sprinkle them liberally with salt.
14. Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and steam for about 20 minutes, checking the water level regularly, until tender when pierced with the tip of a small knife, but not falling apart.
15. Transfer the potatoes to a bowl, brush with a little melted butter and serve.
16. For the bean salad, bring a pan of well-salted water (i.e. 1 teaspoon per 600ml/1 pint) to the boil. Add the beans and boil rapidly for 4-4½ minutes until just tender.
17. Meanwhile, whisk together the mustard and vinegar and then gradually whisk in the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
18. Drain the beans well and return them to the pan. Toss with the spring onions and mustard dressing. Pile into a serving bowl and serve warm.
19. To serve, cut the salmon across into portion-sized pieces. Serve with some of the cooking juices, spooned over, some of the roasted tomatoes, with bean salad and steamed potatoes to the side.