Serves 4

For the sauce

500g duck carcasses, chopped small

2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

1 large onion, cut into thick rings

½ head of garlic, cut in half horizontally

15g fresh thyme, plus 5 large sprigs

350ml chicken stock

50g clear honey

3 tbsp sherry vinegar

150ml veal glace (from thegoodfoodnetwork. co.uk) or a good beef stock

1 tsp white peppercorns

3 tbsp double cream

Salt and pepper

For the duck

1 small head of celeriac, peeled and cut into 1½cm dice

10 garlic cloves, peeled

4 x 180g Gressingham duck breasts

Vegetable oil

350g savoy cabbage, cut into good-sized strips

1 shallot, chopped

20g unsalted butter

40g smoked back bacon slices, cut into fine strips

20g garlic purée

Heat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7. Put the duck carcasses in a roasting tin and roast for 20 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven and place on top of the stove, then sprinkle the bones with 1 tsp Chinese five-spice. Add the onion and garlic, then fry lightly. Add the 15g of thyme. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly. Pour the chicken stock into the roasting tin and stir well to deglaze.

Turn the oven down to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Parboil the celeriac for 5 minutes then place in a roasting tin with the garlic and a splash of oil and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until golden.

Meanwhile, heat 25g of the honey in a large saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Add the vinegar and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the contents of the roasting tin, with the veal glace or stock, peppercorns, sprigs of thyme and cream. Bring back to the boil and skim off the surface, then simmer for 30 minutes. Strain through a fine sieve into a saucepan. Simmer to a sauce consistency, then taste and season. Set aside.

Put the duck breasts in the freezer for a few minutes to make it easier to score the skins. Then, using a very sharp knife, score the fatty skin in a crisscross pattern and season. Heat a little vegetable oil in a heavy-based frying pan, place the breasts skin side down and cook over a fairly W high heat. Once the skin is golden and crisp, turn and sear for 1 minute. Turn again and crisp a little more to your desired degree. Mix together the remaining honey and five-spice powder. Remove the breasts from the pan, brush the honey over the crisp skin and leave to rest.

Meanwhile, cook the cabbage in boiling salted water for a few minutes, then drain and refresh in iced water. Soften the shallot in the butter in a large frying pan. Add the bacon. Tip in the drained, cooked cabbage and let it dry out briefly in the pan. Add the garlic purée and cook for a minute. Season to taste.

To serve, reheat the sauce. Spoon the cabbage on the middle of each plate. Cut the duck breasts into thin slices and lay them on the cabbage. Arrange the celeriac and roasted garlic all around and drizzle with the sauce.

Times Recommends

• Thomasina Miers’s cabbage and bitter leaves on garlic toast
• Food that's good for body and soul
• Carrot, date and goat's cheese salad