Sauce for Duck and Ham : Black Cherry, Port & Redcurrant Jel

"This is a delicious and very easy sauce to make. It's also great with ham and all game -- and vanilla ice cream! For the redcurrant jelly I use a bottle (155g) of Staffords Redcurrant Jelly (a British product). It is usually available on the shelf where you find mint jelly and cranberry sauces. It's worth keeping a bottle of good port in your kitchen cupboard, as it's used in so many ways. *NOTE: if you don't have chicken stock powder, use the same amount of chicken broth. PLEASE NOTE: the sweetness of black cherries in syrup can vary a lot from one brand to another, so you'll have to adjust the taste with the lemon juice to prevent the sauce being too sweet."
 
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photo by Elkaybee photo by Elkaybee
photo by Elkaybee
photo by Zurie photo by Zurie
Ready In:
30mins
Ingredients:
13
Yields:
1 1/2 cup
Serves:
6-8
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ingredients

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directions

  • (Some cans of cherries have a lighter, less sweet syrup, some have a thicker, sweeter syrup than others, so please taste sauce as instructions below indicate, and adjust).
  • Drain the cherries in a sieve over a bowl, and keep at hand.
  • In a pot, measure off the water and stock powder OR use 1/4 cup chicken broth.
  • Add all the ingredients, from the 1/4 cup water down to the pinch of ground cloves -- BUT do NOT add the cornflour and water.
  • Use 2 - 3 tablespoons lemon juice to start, but keep extra juice in case you need to add more to the sauce when you taste it.
  • Stir the sauce over medium heat until the redcurrant jelly dissolves, then boil quite vigorously until about 1 cup liquid is left. As you start out with about 1 3/4 cup, this does not take long.
  • If in doubt about the amount as it boils down, pull off heat, cool slightly, and pour into a Pyrex or heat-resistant measuring cup. I simply tilt the pot, and take a guess.
  • Pour sauce back into pot.
  • Mix the cornflour with the water, add to the sauce, and bring to a simmer while stirring. Let the sauce thicken, and remove from heat. Do not boil longer than a minute, as the cornflour might split.
  • Taste for seasoning: you will almost certainly want to add more lemon juice. I did not add salt, but a pinch will probably improve the taste.
  • Add about 3/4 cup of the cherries in the sieve.
  • Number of servings will depend a lot on how the sauce is used on the meats.

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Reviews

  1. This sauce was not difficult to make but added a professional taste & presentation to this dish. I just loved this & found it was a step up from the usual duck with orange sauce. I had a lot of leftover sauce & have used it on several cold meat dishes & tastes just a delicious. I feel privileged to have found this recipe... Many thanks Zurie
     
  2. This sauce was outstanding on the roasted duck I made last night! It was just sweet enough without tasting like it should be dessert instead of dinner. It has a beautiful glossy texture, and is just thick enough to coat the meat. We also decided that this would be wonderful with pork, and since I have plenty left, I may experiment with that tonight. I had to make a few substitutions, but I think that they are still true to the recipe. I used frozen cherries, as there were only tart cherries in cans at my grocery. The port in my cupboard was ruby, rather than tawny, and was slightly sweeter than I was looking for, but some extra lemon juice at the end took care of that. I only had whole cloves, so I tossed 4 of them in while the sauce simmered, then fished them out before thickening the sauce. Overall, this was wonderful, and I'll definitely make again. Thanks, Zurie, for helping me make a lovely dinner!
     
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I'm a widow, retired, and I love cooking. I live on the coast in South Africa and I love seafood. You're welcome to my recipes (all kinds, definitely not just seafood!) Just remember that no recipe is ever cast in stone -- adjust to your taste! The photo was taken at a rustic seaside restaurant on our West Coast, approx 1 year ago (2016).
 
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