Elegant Roast and Confit of Duck with Roasted Potatoes and Sour Cherries

Remove the legs from the duck.  Place the legs in a baking dish.  Sprinkle with coarse salt, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns.  Cover and place in the refrigerator for 2hours.

Preheat the oven the 250F. In a saucepan, melt 2 cups (500 ml) duck fat over medium heat.  Pour over the salted duck legs.  Bake for 4 hours or until the thigh bone comes away from the legs easily.  Cool in the fat, then cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Remove the breasts from the duck.  Season with salt. Place the breasts skin-side down in a large cast-iron frying pan over medium-low heat.  Gently sauté the breasts, without moving them, for about 10 minutes or until the skin is deep golden brown. Flip them onto the skin side again, and transfer, in the pan to the oven and roast from about 8minutes.  The flesh should still be quite rare.  Transfer breasts to a cutting board.

Pour off the fat and deglaze the pan with the white wine.  Boil the wine until it has reduced by half.  Add the sour cherries and sugar and simmer for 10minutes.

Meanwhile, remove the confit legs from their fat.  Cut the legs in half at the joint and place on a small baking sheet. Roast for about 20minutes or until bubbling and golden brown.

While the ducks are crisping, cook the potatoes in boiling salted water just until tender.  Drain. When cool enough to handle, cut them in half.  Slowly fry them in 2 tablespoons of duck fat.  When they are golden brown on all sides, add the strips of leek.  Gently sauté for 5minutes or until the leeks soften.  Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.

Lay out 4 dinner plates. Place a pile of the potato and leek mixture on each plate.  Arrange a piece of duck confit on each plate.  Spoon a pool of sour cherry compote around the duck.  Finally, carve each duck breast into 8 slices.  Place 4 slices on each plate in a an pattern against the piece of duck confit. Serve.