Recipes serve 4
SEVILLE ORANGE TART
(makes about eight portions)
500g sweet shortcrust pastry
250ml Seville orange juice, plus the zest from five oranges
10 eggs
400g caster sugar
250ml whipping cream
Roll out the pastry, reserving a golf-ball-sized piece (wrap this in clingfilm) and line a 20-centimetre wide, three-and-a-half centimetre deep tart tin. Do not trim off any excess pastry. Leave this in the fridge to rest for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas four and line the pastry with greaseproof paper and a layer of baking beans to weigh everything down. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the paper and the beans and finish for a further five minutes or until the pastry is nicely browned. You need to ensure there are no holes. If there are, plug with the reserved raw pastry.
Reduce the oven temperature to 140 degrees/gas one. Whisk the eggs with the sugar until they are pale. Stir in the orange juice and zest and then the cream. Pour into the pastry case and bake for 40 minutes or until set.
Watch it towards the end; if the pastry is over-browning, cover it loosely in tin foil. Trim off the excess pastry and leave the tart to rest.
If you want the surface to have a golden finish dust it with icing sugar and flash under a hot grill. Serve at room temperature.
ROAST DUCK WITH SEVILLE ORANGE SAUCE
Ducks vary enormously, and give of their best only when they have been fed well and properly looked after. Seek out a good supplier to ensure you get a good-quality duck.
1 large duck
1 bunch sage
4 Seville oranges
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tsp flour
500ml duck or chicken stock
2 tbsp sherry vinegar
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees/gas 6. Prod the duck all over with a carving fork and place in the sink. Pour a kettle of boiling water over the duck, then pat it dry and place in a large roasting pan.
Squeeze the oranges and reserve the juice. Put the squeezed skins inside the duck cavity with the bunch of sage, the garlic and a generous seasoning of salt and pepper. Transfer it to the oven and roast for one and a half hours, or until cooked.
Baste the duck every 30 minutes, which draws more flavour out of the bird and into the gravy underneath the fat.
When the duck is cooked, transfer it to a serving dish and keep it warm. Pour all the fat off into a jug and then remove the meat juices from underneath using a baster. Alternatively you can skim the fat off with a tablespoon. Keep this fat for roasting potatoes.
Remove the orange skins, sage and garlic and transfer to the roasting tin along with the meat juices. In the roasting pan, cook the flour with the meat juices, oranges, sage and garlic for five minutes. (If you get giblets with your duck, chop them roughly and fry in the roasting pan with a little of the duck fat before you add the flour.) Add the sherry vinegar and allow it to bubble up. Add the stock and leave to simmer over a moderate heat, scraping up the sticky bits from the bottom. Simmer for five to 10 minutes, or until reduced to a sticky consistency.
Serve with potatoes and peas. Although not seasonal, peas are excellent with duck.
WARM SALAD OF CHORIZO, POACHED EGG, CROUTONS AND SEVILLE ORANGE VINAIGRETTE
2 thick slices white bread
olive oil
juice of one Seville orange
2 thick fresh chorizo, cut into half- centimetre slices
4 handfuls mixed salad leaves
4 really fresh eggs
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
Remove the crusts from the bread and cut into two-centimetre cubes. Heat four tablespoons of olive oil and gently saute the bread until golden, then transfer it to a sieve lined with kitchen paper, and allow it to dry. Make the vinaigrette by combining the juice of the orange with three tablespoons of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and saute the chorizo until crispy. Arrange the salad leaves on four plates and season with salt and pepper.
Poach the eggs in boiling salted water for three minutes, or until just set. Scatter the croutons and chorizo over the salad leaves and top with the poached egg. Pour the vinaigrette over the top, check the seasoning and finish with a sprinkling of the parsley.