Its not quite Duck season but another 6 weeks and or so and the hunters will be out shooting them for supper. I've got a little duck dish I made last year to show you.
Duck breast, duck leg bonbon, braised shallot, shallot puree, sauté girolles and a little duck jus.
The duck will need to be butchered down once its been hung for a couple of days. Firstly take the breast and legs off. With the carcass, roast it with a mirepoix until golden brown and then place into a large pot. Add a splash of sherry vinegar then 1 ltr of good red wine and 500ml of port. Reduce but 2/3 and add 1 ltr of Veal or Game stock. Bring to a simmer and reduce until the right consistency. Check the seasoning, add 2 tbl of honey and a handful of thyme and leave to sit off the heat for 30 mins. Pass and chill.
Duck leg bonbon:
2 duck legs
1kg duck fat
100g maldon salt
10g thyme
5 juniper berries
5 black peppercorn
1 star anise
Mix all the dry ingredients together in the blender and add the salt. Salt the duck legs for 12 hours and then wash off. Confit in the duck fat for 10 hours at 90*c until flaky and the meat falls off the bone. Chill it down and add a little duck jus that you've just made to moisten the meat and add a little more
Flavour. Roll into little balls and chill. Once cold enough, panne in bread crumbs and place back into the fridge until needed.
Shallot puree:
6 shallots
1 clove garlic
50g butter
50ml Madeira
100ml cream
Salt
Sweat the shallot and garlic in the butter and some salt until golden brown, deglaze the pan with madeira then add the cream. Bring to the point and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Puree in a Thermomix or blender and pass. Check for seasoning and chill.
Braised shallots:
4 shallots
50g butter
200ml chicken stock
Salt
Peel the shallot and cut in half, place in a pan with the outside facing up, add a splash of oil & caramelise, add chicken stick and simmer until soft. Gently lift them out the pan and chill.
Duck Breast:
1 ltr brine
2 duck breast
Brine the duck breasts for 2 hours in a basic brine solution, and wash in cold water once ready. Pat dry and blow torch the skin to get a browned effect, this will give the duck a bbq flavour. Vac-pac and place into a 52*c water bath for 20 minutes. Once ready, take it out the bag and render the fan in a pan. Take out and allow it to rest while you assemble the other components.
Heat up the puree, the shallots and sauté the girolles. Fry the bonbon until golden brown, and heat up the jus.
Pipe some puree on the plate, scatter the girolles & shallots. Place on your bonbon, carve you duck in half length ways and finish with jus. I add a little tarragon velouté to add a bit of depth to the dish, this is only optional. It's a very simple dish but simplicity is always the hardest things to master so keep tasting as you go along.
Enjoy.
