Sauce chasseur means “hunter’s sauce” as it was traditionally paired with game meats. I have used duck where it’s now more common to use chicken. Match different wines accordingly with pheasant, rabbit or venison.
Ingredients
| 3 Tbsp | Flour, seasoned with salt and pepper |
| 4 | Duck legs (Main) |
| 1 Tbsp | Olive oil |
| 4 | Garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with 1 tsp salt |
| 200 g | Button mushrooms, or brown mushrooms, sliced thinly (Main) |
| 3 | Spring onions, use up to 4, quartered |
| ¼ cup | Cognac, or brandy |
| 1 Tbsp | Tomato paste (Main) |
| 1 bunch | Fresh thyme, tied |
| 1 cup | Rose wine, or use riesling (Main) |
| ½ cup | Chicken stock, hot, use more if needed (Main) |
| 1 sprinkle | Chopped tarragon, or use chervil or parsley, to serve |
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Directions
- Heat the oven to 160C.
- Place seasoned flour in a clean bag, add the duck legs and shake to dust well. Remove legs, shake off excess flour. Heat olive oil in a frying pan until hot. Add duck, skin side down, and saute to brown and crisp, turning the legs once or twice so they colour evenly, then remove to a casserole dish (one that will fit the duck snugly).
- Discard all but 1 Tbsp of the fat from the pan. Fry the garlic and mushrooms until brown. Add the spring onions and cook until just soft. Remove and add to casserole dish.
- Deglaze the frying pan with cognac or brandy. Add tomato paste and stir to lift the brownings from the pan. Add the thyme and wine and bring to a simmer. Pour over the duck.
- Add enough hot stock to just cover the legs, season with pepper. Cover and bake for 2 hours, or until the duck is pulling from the bone.
- To serve, plate duck legs and pour some of the sauce over them (remove any excess fat, and reheat the sauce if necessary). Top with fresh herbs.
