Braised Duck Legs with Orange Red Wine Sauce and Apple Red Cabbage

Autumnal braised duck legs in red wine and orange, served with sweet-and-sour apple red cabbage. The legs can be braised a day ahead, so there is enough time on the evening of the meal for the guests.

By yumbelo · 6 servings · 210 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 pc Duck legs
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 tbsp Cooking oil
• 2 pc Onions
• 300 g Carrots
• 150 g Celery stalks
• 3 pc Garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp Tomato paste
• 2 tbsp Honey
• 3 pc Oranges (juice and zest)
• 300 ml Red wine
• 600 ml Poultry stock
• 2 pc Bay leaves
• 1 bunch Thyme
• 3 pc Cloves
• 1 tbsp Cornstarch
• 1 kg Red cabbage
• 2 pc Apples
• 3 tbsp Red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp Sugar

Method

1. Pat the duck legs dry, score the skin several times and season the legs with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the oil in a large braising pan and brown the legs in batches over medium heat for about 8 minutes, skin side down, until crisp and golden. Remove them and pour off the fat from the pan, leaving 2 tbsp.
3. Finely dice the onions, carrots and celery, and slice the garlic. Sauté the vegetables in the rendered fat for about 5 minutes, then add the tomato paste and honey and let them caramelize briefly, stirring.
4. Deglaze with the red wine and let it reduce slightly. Add the juice and grated zest of the oranges, the poultry stock, bay leaves, thyme and cloves.
5. Return the duck legs to the pan skin side up, cover and braise in the preheated oven at 160 °C convection-free (top and bottom heat) for about 2 hours, until the meat is tender.
6. Let the legs cool and store them with the sauce in the refrigerator until the next day. Skim off the solidified fat from the sauce.
7. For the red cabbage, finely shred the cabbage and dice the apples. Cook both covered in a pot with red wine vinegar, sugar, 200 ml water and the cloves for about 60 minutes. Taste at the end and keep warm.
8. On the day of serving, reheat the legs covered with the sauce at 180 °C for about 25 minutes. Strain the sauce through a sieve, bring to a boil, stir in the cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water, and simmer for 1 minute.
9. Plate the duck legs with the orange red wine sauce and the apple red cabbage, and serve immediately.