Caramelised onion and Gruyère tarte fine, salad of crispy duck and watercress

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Marinade the duck with all the confit ingredients apart from the duck fat for 24 hours

2. Step 2

   The next day, preheat the oven to 130°C/gas mark 1

3. Step 3

   Lightly the marinade off the duck and place the legs in an oven tray

4. Step 4

   Cover the legs with the duck fat. Cover the tray with tin foil and cook for 3-4 hours. You can tell when the duck is cooked as the bones will slip out of the meat with no resistance at all

5. Step 5

   While the duck cooks, melt the butter in a pan and add the onions

6. Step 6

   Cook the onions over a low heat until they brown and caramelise - this can take up to 45 minutes

7. Step 7

   Once the onions have caramelised, season them with salt and add the chopped sage

8. Step 8

   Cook for 10 minutes more, and then allow to cool

9. Step 9

   Leave the cooked duck to cool in its fat for 1 hour. Then, remove all the bones, skin and cartilage. Pick the meat into large chunks, but do not shred it finely

10. Step 10

    Cool the meat in fridge

11. Step 11

    Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4

12. Step 12

    Cut the puff pastry bases into four 10cm circles using the pastry cutter, and brush with the egg yolk

13. Step 13

    Place the pastry circles on a heavy oven tray, lined with a silicone mat. Then, place a second silicone mat on top of the pastry

14. Step 14

    Bake for 7 minutes, then rotate the tray 180 degrees and cook for 7 minutes more

15. Step 15

    Remove the pastry from the oven, but don’t turn the oven off. Leave the pastry and silicone mats as they are until the pastry cools

16. Step 16

    While the pastry cools, heat a heavy frying pan over a high heat, and add a splash of vegetable oil

17. Step 17

    Once the oil is smoking hot, add the cooled chunks of duck meat. Pan fry for 2 minutes, or until a little crispy and golden brown

18. Step 18

    Drain off any excess oil, return the pan with the duck to the heat and add the balsamic vinegar

19. Step 19

    Cook until the vinegar has completely evaporated, and the meat is glazed. Take off the heat

20. Step 20

    Spoon some onions into the middle of each cooled tart base. Place a 90mm cutter onto the tart and push the onion mix to the edges of the cutter. This should give you an even 5mm thick layer of onions on the pastry, and a 1cm gap around the edge

21. Step 21

    Place a slice of Gruyère cheese on each tart, and place in the oven for 2 minutes to warm through the tarts and melt the cheese

22. Step 22

    Place each tart into the centre of a plate. Arrange the pieces of duck evenly onto the four tarts

23. Step 23

    Dress the watercress and spring onions with olive oil and Maldon salt and pile onto the centre of each tart

24. Step 24

    To finish, microplane over a good amount of Gruyère onto the watercress and serve