Duck for spring/summer eating. A warm salad of root vegetables, dressed with shallot and orange, and served with warm, slow roasted duck. If you want more, then cook some par-boiled potatoes in some of that gloriously tasty duck fat for the final 30-40 minutes of oven time.

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 220°C. Remove the pack of giblets from the cavity, and sit the duck on a wire rack in a roasting tray (deep enough to collect the fat that will be rendered). Prick the skin all over (a sharp pronged carving fork works well for this) and rub the cavity and skin with sea salt. Transfer to the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 180°C. Roast for 2½ hours, removing twice during cooking time to pour off the duck fat (this requires due care and attention: save the fat to use for roasting potatoes, it will keep well in a jar in the fridge). Allow to rest before carving into leg joints and breast slices.

2 Wash and peel the carrots and beetroot. Cut the vegetables into wedges. Parboil the carrots for 8 minutes and drain. Toss the vegetables in olive oil, season and roast (in the same oven as the duck) for 45 minutes to tender.

3 Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a frying pan and cook the shallot and ginger over a gentle heat for 5 minutes until softened. Add the orange juice and zest together with the honey and raise the heat. Cook until the dressing has reduced by half and is syrupy. Toss the roasted vegetables in some of the dressing to glaze then mix with salad leaves and divide between plates. Finally, add duck to the plate and dress with a little of the remaining orange sauce. Serve immediately.