Duck with cherry sauce

Dieting can often be a bland experience especially if you have developed a great palate for food and drink (like us).
If you've only ever thought weight loss was possible through dieting, then why not take a look at how we lost all our weight.
This CRISPY DUCK WITH CHERRY SAUCE was served with fondant potato, savoy cabbage and bacon. Take a look at how we cooked our fondant potato too!
Some dishes, like this one, look more complicated than they actually are so why not try this recipe.
Don't be put off by those TV chefs (we know who you are) who often use an endless list of costly and fancy ingredients. We like to suggest alternative ingredients and tips, as with this recipe. This delicious cherry sauce was used in our
lamb recipe some time ago. Our tips using alternative ingredients is a way of saving money wherever possible because some traditional recipes can end up being a very expensive long list of ingredients. Experimenting with recipes is all part of the fun.
We would estimate this dish at around 650 calories, as we use very little additional fat.
So if you're looking for inspiration - and a colourful dish take a look at our easy to cook cherry sauce (below) which goes well with lamb too.

CRISPY DUCK WITH CHERRY SAUCE

Ingredients (serves two)

Duck breast (150g per person)

Tin or jar of morello cherries (in light syrup or juice)

Shallot

Garlic

Port

Water

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CHERRY SAUCE 

If you are using cherries in light syrup, then remove the syrup and set aside. 

Save the syrup, as you may want to use a little of this to sweeten the sauce later.

Place the cherries (reserving a few for decoration) into a saucepan and cover with water. OR if you are using cherries in fruit juice, just tip out the contents into a saucepan (no need to add water).

Add a dash of port, chopped shallot and crushed garlic to the cherries and water/juice. 

Boil for around 20 minutes until reduced.

 Blend then pass through a sieve. 

DUCK

Score the duck skin, season with salt and place in a (cold) dry frying pan, skin side down.

Turn up to a medium heat and cook until the skin goes crispy - about 6 to 8 minutes. 

Place the duck in a hot oven (around 180ºC) for 6 minutes (for medium) to 8 minutes (well done).

Remove and rest the meat for at least 5 minutes. 

FONDANT POTATOES - if you fancy trying them out

Our fondant potatoes - strangely enough we cook ours the wrong way, but they taste great. 

Peel and shape your potatoes to the size you prefer. We suggest using a floury potato - something like a KING EDWARD. A waxy potato is ok, but the texture won't be as good in our opinion. 

Boil the potatoes in chicken stock until cooked. 

Remove and set aside until you're ready to eat, then fry in butter/oil for a few minutes either side until you have a nice crust/crunch.

TIP: If you are making the savoy cabbage and bacon, use the oil from frying off the bacon bits in which to fry the fondant potato (just add a little butter to the pan too).

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REMEMBER: We all have a calorie allowance - do you know yours?

We began our weight loss journey in January 2011 - and began our blog in June 2011. Here's a link to the first post. (here's the link).

We like to post our main meals to give you an idea of just how far calories can go! It's up to you what you eat.

Read about our UNIQUE METHOD of weight loss and find out how you can have the food and drink you love while losing weight. 

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