UKH

Any suggestions for a good sauce for roast duck that will go with all the usual Xmas trimmings? I think something involving cherry or orange won't fit too well. I will have a good homemade chicken stock to base it around.

Cheers!

Plum?  

Something with both sweetness and acidity, at a guess. So, I've never tried this combo, but maybe cranberry?

something apricot based 

Redcurrant is what I'm doing.   With red wine.

Yuzu. Lemony without being sour, orangey without being tangy.

I add a splash of balsamic vinegar and some crushed  green peppercorns (the ones that come in pots of brine, which unfortunately seem to be getting hard to get hold of in this country)

Blackberries if you have any left in the freezer.

I'm with you on the balsamic, never tried the peppercorns though. Usually start the sauce off with finely chopped shallots (in the pan used to seal the duck), then add the balsamic & red wine, reduce down to desired stickiness then stir in the redcurrant jelly.

What about mango?

HP. Goes with anything.

Also thinking redcurrant, though my favourite thing to go with duck is honey and pear.

I can recommend a sauce of grapefruit and honey which I have cooked a few times.

Daddies sauce would be much nicer. 

Are you sure? The only time I tasted this was last year as part of a 7 course tasting menu. It was bitter, and the only thing I didn't like in the meal. 

I'm doing duck for Christmas and I'll use chicken stock for my gravy base as it's a big hit with the family. 

What I was reading regarding cooking duck is that for extra crispy skin you can pour a kettle full of boiling water over the bird an hour before cooking and then it dry off. 

I reckon the typical fruity based sauce that many duck recipes include doesn’t work with typical roast diner trimmings (guessing you’re thinking similar?).  I would go for a standard gravy, possibly enriched with port, and some sweet and tangy jelly (red currant with some grated orange zest and lemon juice?) or a chutney. 

Get the hair dryer on it after scolding - did this with pork and it worked a treat

What a pleb!

I had duck breast for dinner last night (wild mallard, shot by myself the day before). I seared the breasts in a pan, using just their own fat, and smeared them (nicer culinary terms surely available) with a very sharp homemade damson chutney when they were resting. It was delicious! 

I know you've ruled out orange but with duck I always do cranberries reduced in Cointreau with a bit of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and a cheeky very tiny dash of soy sauce to make it pop. Worked well with roast spuds, carrot, beetroot and parsnips. Can't vouch for the pairing with sprouts. 

Depends how it's done. Yuzu is kind of the neutral overlap in the citrus scene, yet still a robust flavour, so possible to bring out any of several flavours, and being citric, bitter will always be in there. In north Asia it's often done as a salty, umami thing similar to how plums also are often seen as savoury not sweet like they can be in western food.

Warm salad cream

Thanks for the inspiration all. I will probably go with redcurrants and red wine. The cranberries in cointraeau sounds pretty awesome but I can't be fcuked to head to a supermarket any time soon!

Our (German) family recipe was always to roast the duck with a filling of apples and prunes. Gives you a juicy, fruity meat and the gravy is really rich. No need for a separate fruity sauce with that, and I remember guests were always very impressed.

I don't cook it myself as I'm now pescatarian (so I suppose I could eat goose ). But I'm passing the idea on here just in case someone else likes the sound of it...

Reduce some red wine and port add the chicken stock reduce again , add a touch of red currant jelly and blanched julienne of orange peel. You could thicken it slightly with a touch of diluted arrowroot whisked in . Season salt and ground black pepper . 
Bon appetite! . 

Pyn.