Food

Duck Leg Like a Duck Breast, Plums and Peppers

By Lauren Medeiros On October 15th, 2026

“The twin pillars of French duck dishes are magret de canard and canard confit and, this recipe, with its sticky, charcoaled, steak-housey plum and pepper topping, slides somewhere between the two, like a mashup of classics.” — Mon Lapin

Ingredients

Serves 24

Brown Chicken Broth (batch)

4½ lbs. chicken bones, broken down into small pieces
Enough White Chicken Broth to cover bones, fat cap removed
1 onion, cut in half and charred

Red Pepper Jus (batch)

2 oz. butter
1 lb. 2 oz. chicken wings, cut into 1″ pieces
21/4 lbs. red peppers, juiced (you should have about 26 fl. oz. of juice; keep pulp for another use)
17 fl. oz. Brown Chicken Broth (see above)
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 fl. oz. light honey
Salt, to taste (optional)

2 duck legs, aged on carcass for 2 to 3 weeks

Peppers

4–6 red Jimmy Nardello peppers
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp honey
Pinch salt

To Serve

2 Mont-Royal plums, 1 grilled, 1 fresh and sliced into wedges
2 fl. oz. Red Pepper Jus, warmed (see above)

Directions

Make Brown Chicken Broth

Preheat oven to 375°F. Put chicken bones in roasting tray and roast for about 45 minutes, until golden brown.
Transfer roasted chicken bones to large ovenproof pan, cover with White Chicken Broth and reduce oven temperature to 225°F.
Don’t wash roasting tray just yet; discard apparent fat, place tray on stove and deglaze it with a bit of water, scraping up all caramelized bits.
Pour into pan of chicken bones. Bring to a boil and skim off any impurities that accumulate on surface. When no more scum is forming, add charred onion.
Cover pan and transfer to oven overnight, up to 12 hours. Remove from oven, strain through fine-mesh sieve into clean heatproof container and discard solids. Cool and refrigerate.

Make Red Pepper Jus

In large pan over medium-high heat, melt butter and add chicken wings. Sauté in sizzling butter until all pieces have caramelized, without any dark spots. Put wings in sieve over bowl, then strain off and discard butter.
Deglaze pan with red pepper juice and return wings to pan. Bring to simmer and slowly reduce by half the volume. Add Brown Chicken Broth and garlic, and braise for 30 minutes over low heat. Strain into small pan and discard solids.
Add honey and continue reducing sauce until it’s thick enough to coat back of spoon. Season with salt, if necessary, then cool and refrigerate.

Debone Duck Legs

Debone duck legs carefully, keeping skin intact and paying attention around knee joint. Remove visible tendons using pliers — pinch and pull gently to slide them out cleanly — then let deboned legs reach room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking.

Grill and Marinate Peppers

Prepare charcoal grill. Grill peppers over hot charcoal until softened but not fully charred. Transfer to lidded container to steam. In small bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar, honey and salt. Submerge peppers in marinade and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Cook Duck Legs

Season duck legs. Grill them skin side–down over charcoal, pressing gently to ensure even sear. Cook for about 5 minutes on skin side, then flip onto meat side and move to indirect heat to cook slowly for about another 5 minutes. Let duck rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Grill Plums and Serve

Grill halved plums, cut side–down, until caramelized. Slice rested duck leg against grain. Plate with marinated grilled peppers, grilled plum halves and fresh plum wedges. Season with flaky salt. Spoon Red Pepper Jus over peppers and serve.

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