Braised duck legs

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 duck legs
• 2 bunch soup vegetables
• 3 m.-sized onion(s)
• 1 m.-sized apple, green (e.g. Granny Smith)
• 50 g tomato paste
• 400 ml red wine, semi-dry
• 800 ml chicken stock or vegetable stock or game stock
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• rosemary
• marjoram
• peppercorns
• Juniper berry(s)

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes

guaranteed success

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Roughly dice the soup vegetables, onions, and apple. Peel the garlic. Brown the duck legs in a braising pan. To do this, I place the duck legs skin-side down in the pan without any additional fat. I only use fat if I’m making a larger batch in an uncoated pan or roasting dish. Now reduce the heat to medium and cook the duck legs until water droplets form on the top. Salt the inside of the duck legs only. Turn the duck legs over and cook for another 3 minutes on the other side. Set the browned duck legs aside and sauté the soup vegetables and apple in the pan until lightly browned. Add the tomato paste and garlic and sauté briefly. Pour in the red wine and simmer briefly to allow some of the alcohol to evaporate. Then add the stock and bring everything to a boil briefly, loosening any juices from the bottom of the pan. Add the spices (bay leaves, rosemary, marjoram, juniper berries, and peppercorns) to the sauce. Season with a good pinch of salt. Return the duck legs to the sauce and cover well. Cover the pan and place the legs in the preheated oven and braise for 90 minutes. Check occasionally to ensure the legs are still well coated with the sauce and turn if necessary. After 90 minutes, remove the duck legs from the sauce and set aside. Strain the sauce through a sieve. Reduce the sauce by about half and add more seasoning if necessary. If the sauce is too thin, thicken it with a little flour mixed with water until smooth. Shortly before serving, grill the duck legs in the oven, skin-side up, again at high temperature for 3-4 minutes to crisp the skin. Potato dumplings and red cabbage go well with it.