Roast Duck with Wild Rice and Mango–Chilli Salsa

Roast Duck with Wild Rice and Mango–Chilli Salsa

  Serves 4
  For a special Christmas dinner serve the whole leg or wing section and cut several slices of the breast meat for each person. Any leftover is delicious cold.
  1 × 2–2.5 kg duck
  salt and freshly ground black pepper, to season
  1 cup wild rice
  45 g butter
  sprigs of watercress or mint, to serve
  ½ quantity Mango–Chilli Salsa
  mango–chilli salsa

  1 small red onion, finely chopped
  1 serrano chilli, seeded and finely chopped
  3 tablespoons oil
  2 cups cubed mango
  ½ cup mint leaves
  lime juice, to squeeze over
  salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
 
  Preheat the oven to 250°C. Split the duck in halves using poultry shears and a strong knife, removing all the noticeable fat. Season the duck and place, skin side up, on a rack in a pan. Roast for 10 minutes to render some of the fat from under the skin. Reduce the oven to 180°C and continue cooking for about 30 minutes, until tender, or done to taste. Set aside in a warm place.
  Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and sprinkle in the wild rice. Boil, stirring a few times, until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain the rice, toss thoroughly with the butter and lay out in an ovenproof casserole dish. Cover and bake for 15 minutes in the oven with the duck, stirring and fluffing the rice twice. Uncover the rice, stir again, and bake for a further 15 minutes, stirring twice more to ensure that the rice grains are separate and firm.
  To serve, remove the whole legs and wings with some of the breast meat attached and slice the remaining breasts slightly diagonally across. Place a leg or wing piece on each plate on a bed of the wild rice with some of the breast slices and spoon some salsa on each plate. Garnish with watercress or mint sprigs.
  Mango-Chilli Salsa
  Cook red onion, serrano chilli, oil and 1 tablespoon water in a saucepan over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes, until the onion is transparent without colouring. Cool, then add to a bowl with the mango. Drop the mint leaves in boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain, refresh in iced water, drain again and squeeze dry, then finely chop. Add to the onion and mango mixture and stir in a little lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Leave to stand for an hour before serving. Makes about 3 cups.