Roast duck with prune and apple stuffing

I adore a crisp roast parsnip and brussels sprout-flanked roast turkey on Christmas Day, but since moving here to Denmark, this barren land of butter, bacon and Vikings, I have a new favourite Christmas roast.

Old-school roast duck, cooked slow and low, with crisp, salted mahogany skin and juicy meat, not served pink, but still wonderfully tender. I always buy chubby free-range Danish birds from a tiny Danish island called Sejerø. We have a little family summer house there, and my friend Jens has a farm up the road, with chickens all summer and ducks and geese for winter.

I roast my Christmas ducks over an onion and herb trivet and pass the roast liquor through a sieve, pressing every last drop of juice from the onions. Thickened with a little butter and flour, it’s no fine French sauce, just a wonderful rich, rib-tickling, sticky old-fashioned gravy that I’ve picked up from my dear mother-in-law, Kitty.

Serves 6
duck 1 large, about 2.5-3kg
prunes 300g, stoned and halved
apples 500g, about 5 small, peeled, cored and quartered
onions 2 medium, peeled and quartered
bouquet garni small bunch of rosemary, thyme and 2 bay leaves, tied

For the gravy
butter 1 tbsp
flour 1 tbsp
white wine 150ml
chicken stock 250ml

Preheat the oven to 140C/gas mark 1. To prepare your duck, season the bird well, inside and out, then stuff with the prunes and apples. Pile up the onion quarters in the centre of a roasting tin, then place the bouquet garni on top.

Place the duck, breast side down, on top of the onions and herbs and put in the oven to roast. Pop a second roasting tin half filled with water at the bottom of the oven, to create steam and keep the bird moist.

After an hour, flip the duck so it’s breast side up, then continue to roast for a further hour and a quarter. For the best result, use a meat thermometer; the bird is done when the breast is 63C. Remove the duck from the roasting tin and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

To make the gravy, pour the juices from the roasting tin into a bowl and skim off the excess fat. Place the same tin over a medium heat, add the butter and stir until melted. Whisk in the flour to make a roux, then add the wine and whisk for another 2-3 minutes, until the mixture has thickened. Gradually pour in the stock, whisking to combine. Simmer until reduced by half, stirring occasionally. Season to taste and keep warm.

Pop your duck under a hot grill for 5-10 minutes, until the breast skin is crisp and golden. Remove from the grill, carve and serve with the gravy, alongside your favourite Christmas vegetables.

Christmas braised red cabbage

These shiny red shards of cabbage look as though they should be tinsel dangling upon the Christmas tree. The vinegary sourness cuts the fatty duck perfectly, the little raisins burst with intense juice, and aromas of orange zest, cloves and cinnamon fill the kitchen. This dish eats really well cold, too – over cold slices of leftover roast pork, with roast beef or tucked into a turkey and stuffing sandwich.

Serves 8
garlic bulb 1, halved
duck fat 30g
olive oil 30ml
red cabbage 1 large, shredded
red onions 4 large, peeled and thinly sliced
red chilli 1, split lengthways and thinly sliced
raisins a good handful
cinnamon stick 1
cloves 2
fennel seeds 1 tbsp, toasted
juniper berries 12, lightly crushed
oranges 2, 1 juiced and zest peeled into strips, 1 peeled and split into segments
red wine vinegar 30ml
soft light brown sugar 200g

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Wrap the garlic in tin foil and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes, until soft. Set aside and keep warm.

In a large frying pan, heat the duck fat and olive oil over a medium heat, then saute the cabbage, onions, chilli and raisins for 15-20 minutes, until the cabbage is beginning to wilt. Add the cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, juniper and orange peel, and saute for a further 10 minutes. Add the orange juice, vinegar and brown sugar. Cook until the sugar dissolves and the flavours come together, about 10 minutes.

Squeeze the garlic from its skin and fold into the cabbage with the orange segments. Season and serve.

Warm walnut, celery, grape and blue cheese salad

Blå kornblomst (blue cornflower) – creamy and rich, sharp and salty – is my favourite Danish blue cheese but it doesn’t sit upon every cheese counter in Britain. A creamy Colston Bassett stilton is fab, or you could use a Fourme d’Ambert or even a not too hefty roquefort or gorgonzola, depending on where you are in the world. It’s all about the balance in this warm Waldorfy salad. The salty cheese is cooled by the grapes, and the bitter note from the toasted walnuts works really well with the sweet dressing. You can get all of the ingredients prepped, washed and sorted in the afternoon, and just put the salad together at the last minute – though the walnuts really lift the whole dish if they’re served hot.

Serves 8
celery 1 head, light inner stalks and leaves only (use the darker stems for soups)
walnuts 1 handful
little gem lettuce 4, leaves separated
green seedless grapes a good handful
blue cheese 320g

For the dressing
apple vinegar 100ml
olive oil 200ml
walnut oil 100ml
creme fraiche 2 tbsp
Dijon mustard 1 tsp
sugar 1 tbsp, or to taste

To make the dressing, whisk together all the ingredients except the sugar, then season nicely to taste with the sugar, and sea salt and pepper.

Slice the celery stalks. Dry fry the walnuts in a frying pan until lightly toasted. Arrange the little gem leaves, warm walnuts, celery stalks and leaves and grapes on a large serving plate (or individually), dress well with the dressing, season lightly with sea salt and black pepper, then crumble over the blue cheese. Serve immediately.

Salted butter caramel potatoes

I use a small, firm, waxy potato – a type that won’t fall apart. In the UK, look out for small charlotte or the waxy ratte variety. They are cooked twice here, really. Boiled gently until tender in well salted water, peeled and then rolled in the buttery, salty caramel sauce about half an hour before serving. They are delightfully different – yes, they sound a little strange but they work wonderfully with the rich salty duck and the sharp spiciness of the braised red cabbage.

Serves 6
charlotte potatoes 1kg, small
sugar 6 tbsp
salted butter 30g

Bring the potatoes to the boil in a large pan of salted water and cook until tender, around 15-20 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool, then peel.

Half an hour before you’re ready to serve, melt the sugar in a large heavy-based pan over a medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally and cook until a dark gold colour.

Add the butter and potatoes and, once the butter is melted, 3 tablespoons of water. Simmer for 15 minutes, until hot, sticky and caramelised. Season to taste and serve.

Roasted cabbage and onions

This hot salad crunches and crackles, squeaks and groans. The amount of cabbage depends on how much you like. For six or so guests I’d probably use one medium savoy, one large hispi, half a small white cabbage, a large bag of kale and a good few handfuls of brussels. There are tons of cabbage varieties available right now, so why not use them all?

Serves 6-8
cabbage savoy, hispi, kale, white, brussels – any fresh variety you can find
duck fat 100g
onion 1 large, finely sliced
garlic cloves 6
red chilli 1
star anise 2
lemon zest of 1

Trim and wash the leaves, cut them into large rough diamonds and remove the thick stalks. The smaller, finer hispi can be quartered if you prefer, the sprouts just halved. (You want an al dente result when serving the dish, not soggy and boring.) Drain and dry them well.

In a frying pan on a medium-low heat, melt the duck fat and then add the finely sliced onion, garlic cloves, chilli and star anise, and warm gently until the onions are soft and the flavours are well released.

In a large baking tray, spread out the cabbages, then dress well with the infused duck fat and onion. Season the cabbage lightly with the lemon zest, sea salt and pepper.

Bake the cabbage at 200C/gas mark 6 for 10-15 minutes until beautifully caramelised and lightly crisp.

Just before serving, check the seasoning – a little crunch of salt and pepper is always nice. Serve alongside the more traditional braised cabbage, and your cabbagey feast will be complete – save any leftovers for a superb bubble ‘n’ squeak.

Paul Cunningham is head chef at Henne Kirkeby Kro, Strandvejen 234, 6854 Henne, Denmark

Wine match

Alain Brumont Château Bouscassé Madiran, France 2009
(from £16.50; woodwinters.com; josephbarneswines.com)
The Madiran appellation is where red wines were born to go with magret and confit de canard. Alain Brumont is a master of this deep, dark-fruited, powerfully grippy style, the tannins melding satisfyingly with the fat of the meat.