A recipe to celebrate the arrival of Autumn

A couple of weeks ago, as we drove to the Farmers’ Market in Dejvice, I asked my daughter what she wanted for dinner. Duck, she said (ain’t that the best daughter in the world?). For some reason I’ve now forgotten, roasting a whole bird was out of the question that day. Fortunately, one of the stands was selling duck breasts that day and I bought three. While I sipped a beer at the market, after finishing with the shopping, I though about how I would cook them.

This is what I came up with. You’ll need:

• Duck breasts (obviously), deboned
• 250-300ml of good Pale Lager (any pale would work, I think, even an IPA!)
• 2-3 (depending on thickness) Tbsp red currant jam, or whateverberry jam
• 1 medium sized carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 medium sized onion, coarsely chopped
• Sage, savoury, marjoram
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• salt, pepper

Put a deep pan to heat until it reaches a temperature of are-you-mad-you-want-to-burn-down-the-house degrees, and put the already seasoned breasts skin-side down. Let them fry until the skin …