Duck Paella

At Henrietta Green Food Lover’s Fair in November 2003, Elisabeth Luard showed me how to make a duck paella that can make one duck feed six people. It was easy to make and tasted delicious. Here is how to do it.

Ingredients:

• 500g round rice.
  
• 1 wild duck, chopped into bite-sized pieces.
  
• 6 tablespoons of olive oil.
  
• 2 garlic cloves, skinned and chopped.
  
• 1 red pepper, de-seeded and roughly chopped.
  
• 250g of green beans.
  
• 500g tomatoes, skinned and chopped (or tinned).
  
• 12 strands of saffron infused in an eggcup of boiling water.
  
• 600ml of water.
  
• Salt.

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a wide deep frying pan until lightly hazed with blue.
   
2. Put in the garlic and let it perfume the oil for a moment.
   
3. Add the duck pieces and fry them for 5 minutes, turning them.
   
4. Sprinkle the rice in a single layer and turn the grains until they are well coated with aromatic juices.
   
5. Fry for a moment until the grains turn opaque.
   
6. Add the tomatoes, saffron in its water, followed by the water (3x the volume of liquid to rice).
   
7. Let it bubble for 15 mins.
   
8. The heat under the pan should be even as possible.
   
9. Add more water if it looks like drying out.
   
10. Remove from the heat and leave to rest and swell, loosely covered with a cloth.

Courtesy of Elisabeth Luard.