We’re excited to welcome Angelo Georgalli to the NZRod&Rifle team. Angelo is known for his TVNZ show’s ‘ The Game Chef’ and ‘Angelo’s Outdoor Kitchen’. With success as a restaurateur, hunting guide, archery coach, NZ national archery champion and author of three cookbooks, he’ll bring his passion and experience of the outdoors and wild game cooking to each issue.

Who doesn’t like their slow cooker? A seriously brilliant invention for creating classic, warm-the-cockles-of-your-heart casseroles that you can set and forget. Coming home to the rich aroma of plums, tomatoes and melt in-your-mouth duck?

Man, oh man! Is it winter yet?

Ingredients

• 4 Tbsp olive oil

• 10 small pickling onions

• 6 duck legs

• 4 cloves garlic, crushed.

• Salt & pepper

• 1 x 680g bottle tomato passata

• 1 Tbsp wholegrain mustard

• ¼ cup red wine

• 3 sprigs fresh thyme, roughly chopped

• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, roughly chopped

• 1 bay leaf

• ½ handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

• 1 lemon wedge

• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

• 6 fresh or tinned black plums, halved and destoned

method

1. Turn your slow cooker to auto or medium.

2. In a large hot frying pan, brown the pickling onions in olive oil.

3. Next add the duck legs and brown both sides. Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Transfer into the slow cooker.

4. Add the remaining ingredients (except the plums) into the slow cooker and turn to low. Simmer for 4 hours. After 3 hours, add the 6 black plums skin-side down and simmer for a further 1 hour.

5. Season to taste and serve.

Tip: If you use tinned plums, place them into the slow cooker 30 minutes before the 4 hours is up, as the plums will go mushy if left in the cooker for too long.