Oven-braised duck legs with green olives

Σιγομαγειρεμένα μπούτια πάπιας στο φούρνο με πράσινες ελιές

Published originally on my blog on 24 February 2014

This winter has been extremely mild here in The Hague and in the Netherlands in general. We haven’t seen a single flake of snow, the rain hasn’t been falling as heavily as in previous years, and it hasn’t been very cold at all, at least for Dutch standards.

I have two duvets, one light and one heavy, and this is the first time in more than six years that I have been living here, that I have not switched to the heavy one for the winter. It is unbelievable and I’m saying this in a good way.

I love this weather. We’ve had a lot of sunny days and not those gloomy never-ending ones, and there have been some days that I have actually felt like I was back in Greece.

Spring has not yet arrived though, it is still winter, and throughout the season, I have been making all types of stews and slow-cooked, meat and poultry dishes. This one I made the other day when I was looking to cook something different than the traditional Greek meat stews and braises I usually make.

S and I love duck and even though we mostly opt for the quick-cooking duck breast, this time we chose duck legs. I thought about making duck confit at first, but then the idea of oven-braising the legs popped into my mind.

This is a duck-leg braise with Mediterranean flavors, one cooked very much the French/Italian way, with Greek green olives, bacon, celery, onion and carrot, ground aniseed and tomatoes. The duck legs are first baked in the oven over high heat in order for the fat to render and crisp up and then they are braised in the oven over a low heat along with all the vegetables, olives and bacon.

This dish is exceptional; highly flavorful and aromatic, deeply satisfying and quite unique. Briny olives with succulent, honeyed sweet duck meat, all dark and juicy, with crispy rendered skin; salty bacon adding extra flavor and aniseeds giving a spicy aromatic quality; tender vegetables; earthy sauce perfect for dipping, not too fatty but not for the faint-hearted either; acidity and freshness from the grated orange zest and chopped parsley, balancing the sweetness, brininess and earthiness of the dish. Paired with a creamy homemade potato purée it is perfection on a plate.

Oven-Braised Duck Legs with Green Olives

I used large duck legs (from male ducks) but you can also use smaller ones (from female ducks). Get a couple more though if you want to feed six people.

I opted to serve the duck legs with potato purée but you can also serve them with fried potatoes.