Step 1

Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C fan / gas mark 7 / 425F.

Step 2

Remove the pack of duck giblets from the duck and place the whole duck onto a rack in a roasting tin. Prick the duck skin all over with a fork and scatter over a little salt and pepper.

Step 3

Place the duck into your preheated oven and roast for 1 hour 10 minutes. (Or until cooked to your liking.)

Step 4

Rest for 15 minutes, then carve and serve. (Don’t cover while resting or the skin will lose its crispiness!)

Step 5

Remove the duck giblets from the packet and place in a medium saucepan.

Step 6

Add the onions, carrots, celery, parsley, bay leaves, peppercorns and cold water.

Step 7

Bring to the boil, then turn down very low, cover with a lid, and simmer for 1 hour. Strain into a clean saucepan. (I use a sieve to do this.)

Step 8

In a jug, mix together the cornflour, chicken stock cube and a little water to make a paste. Add the strained stock and stir.

Step 9

When the duck has come out of the oven and is resting, pour the stock / cornflour mix into the empty duck roasting tray and stir to combine the duck gravy with all the duck juices and duck fat.

Step 10

Tip this mixture back into the saucepan, bring to the boil and then simmer until it reaches your preferred consistency. (If it is too thick for you, thin with a little boiling hot water from the kettle.)

Step 11

Pour the gravy into a fat separator jug and leave to stand for 5 minutes then either serve the gravy in the fat separator jug or pour the gravy into a nice serving jug / gravy boat, taking care to leave the fat in the fat separator jug. (See Note 1.)