Wild duck, celeriac and chanterelle broth

Serves 4-6

This soup provides a good opportunity to use up the carcass of a game bird (JASON LOWE)

When you have roasted a game bird, it's such a waste to throw away the carcass. If you shoot and you have an excess of birds, or a few that are full of shot, then this is a good opportunity to use them up.

The carcasses and any leftover legs from a few wild ducks
A couple of knobs of butter
1 onion, peeled, halved and roughly chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 stick of celery
4 cloves of garlic
A couple of sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
10 peppercorns
4 juniper berries
2tsp plain flour
2ltrs hot chicken stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small head of celeriac, peeled and cut into rough 1cm dice
150-200g chanterelles
1tbsp chopped parsley

Chop the duck carcasses; melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed frying pan and fry them on a fairly high heat with the vegetables and garlic for 3-4 minutes until they begin to colour, then add the thyme, bay leaf, peppercorns and juniper and stir in the flour. Gradually add the stock, bring back to the boil and simmer gently for about an hour, skimming every so often if necessary. Strain the stock through a fine-meshed sieve into a clean saucepan, reserving the bits of carcass and legs. Add the celeriac and simmer for 6-7 minutes until tender. Meanwhile, remove as much meat as possible from the carcasses and add to the soup with the chanterelles and parsley, re-season if necessary and simmer for a couple of minutes and serve. If you are not going to serve the soup straight away, leave out the chanterelles and parsley. You can store the base in the fridge for a couple of days if you wish.