Recipe: Roast duck with beetroot and plum jam sauce

[Chris Singer]

At first you may think hmm, beetroot and plum jam - but be assured, it tastes great!

1/2 bottle red wine (and a glass for chef of course)

200ml fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons of soft brown sugar

2 Garlic cloves

Rosemary sprigs

400 ml chicken stock

250g of beetroot puree

2 tablespoons of plum jam

Put the wine, orange juice, rosemary, garlic and sugar into a pan, and simmer to reduce by half. You don't want this to be a quick reduction, you need the time for the rosemary and garlic to infuse. Once reduced, strain to remove the herbs and garlic and set sauce aside while duck roasts.

Add roasting juices from the duck to the sauce, and heat gently as you add the plum jam and beetroot puree. 

Season to taste.

For the beetroot puree (ok, this bit is an Ashburton recipe!) Boil beetroots in their skins in vegetable stock for about an hour, until the skins are soft. Peel the beetroot and blend in a high speed blender until pureed. Add a little horseradish sauce and seasoning, blend again and taste. I also put this through a fine sieve.