Saturday 6 June - Duck with Peppercorn Sauce

This recipe is one we have cooked a few times before, and we first made it after seeing Simon Rimmer making it on a TV show. The recipe found it's way into my folder of recipes that I've found online and printed off for further use.

We always have duck breasts in the freezer, as when Lidl have them on their specials we buy a few to keep in - they are massive and one duck breast feeds all three of us easily.

The recipe started with a cold pan, and the duck skin side down. It then went into oven to finish cooking.

I've changed the recipe for the sauce slightly, as it contained only brandy and cream - I added a drop of white wine and some chicken stock, and used creme fraiche to make it lighter. I also crushed the peppercorns as they can be a bit hot if you bite into a whole one.

This is what makes the dish summery for me - the vegetable base. Cubed cooked new potatoes were fried in the fat that came out of the duck.

Once these were crisp, in went grated lemon zest, peas and some chopped spinach.

The sliced duck was then served on the potatoes with the sauce poured over the top.