Duck Breast With Braised Belgian Endive Shaved Cauliflower And Green Peppercorns Recipes

PAN ROASTED DUCK BREAST

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• With a sharp knife score the fat of the duck breasts in a criss-cross pattern. Season the duck with salt and pepper. Warm a heavy bottomed ovenproof skillet over medium heat.
• Place the duck breasts, fat side down, in the skillet to render off the fat, about 6 minutes. Reserve rendered duck fat. Turn the duck breasts over and sear for 1 minute. Turn the fat side down again and place the skillet into the oven to roast for 7 to 9 minutes, until breasts are medium rare. Let the duck breasts rest for 5 minutes then thinly slice.
• Grate the potatoes and squeeze out excess liquid using your hands. Toss the potatoes with the melted butter, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of duck fat in a 6-inch cast iron pan over medium-high heat. Press some of the potato mixture into the hot pan to make a 1/4-inch thick cake. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the rosti is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Flip the rosti in the pan and add more duck fat. Continue cooking until golden and crisp. Place the finished rosti onto an unlined baking sheet and continue cooking the rest of the potato mixture. Reheat rosti in a 400 degree F oven for 10 minutes.
• Combine the brown sugar, raspberry vinegar, red wine vinegar, and white wine vinegar in a medium pot. Place over medium-low heat and stir to dissolve the brown sugar. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Add the blueberries, onion, green peppercorns, lemon juice, and ginger. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.
• The chutney will keep for several weeks stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

DUCK BREASTS WITH GREEN PEPPERCORN SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees F/200 degrees C. Score the duck breast and render the fat in a saute pan. Pour off the fat, and transfer to the oven to finish, about 10 minutes. Remove the duck, and set aside to rest while you make the sauce.
• Deglaze the saute pan with the wine and cognac and reduce by half. Add the veal stock and peppercorns and reduce by half again. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.
• Carve the duck breast. Spoon over the sauce and serve.

BRAISED BELGIAN ENDIVE

Steps:

• In a heavy skillet over high flame, melt half of the butter. Season endive. Place 4 halves of the endive cut-side down and cook until browned. Repeat with remaining butter and endive. Place endive, cut-side up in a gratin dish. Pour stock around endive, cover with aluminum foil, and bake in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Season again with salt and pepper.

DUCK BREAST WITH BRAISED BELGIAN ENDIVE, SHAVED CAULIFLOWER AND GREEN PEPPERCORNS

Steps:

• Split and trim the duck breasts to yield 4 individual breasts. Some people remove the "tenders," as there is a small span of unchewable silver skin within, but I just leave them intact and deal with it when eating, like the fat or gristle in any steak or chop. It's just part of the deal.
• Season the duck with salt and pepper generously on both skin and flesh sides, then place breasts skin-side down in an extra-large heavy-bottomed steel pan.
• Set the pan over medium-low heat, and gently cook the duck breasts 20 to 25 minutes, skin-side down the whole time, pouring off the rendering duck fat many times along the way so that the duck does not poach or steam in its own fat. Save all of that duck fat.
• In the meantime, split the endive heads in half lengthwise, and remove any limp outer leaves. Crush the green peppercorns with the flat side of your chef's knife, then mince the crushed peppercorns further, sometimes dragging the mince under the flat side of your knife to make it into a paste, as you might with a clove of garlic.
• When the duck skin is dark golden brown and crisp and most of the white fat has rendered out, turn the breast flesh-side down. Increase heat to medium-high (you want to get a true sear and not a gray "steam"), and sear for 2 to 4 minutes, or until the flesh is golden brown. Remove the duck breasts from the pan, and set them aside in a warm place.
• Add a nice spoonful of the rendered duck fat back into the hot pan, and lay in the endive halves, cut-side down. Cook until you get a dark golden sear on the cut sides of the endive, about 3 minutes. Turn the endives over onto their rounded backs, and add the cauliflower, shallot and peppercorn paste to the pan.
• Add back in another nice spoonful of the rendered duck fat, and stir together as best as you can without disturbing the endive. You can move it to the side and give yourself some room for stirring and cooking the cauliflower. You want to make sure the cauliflower and the shallots have contact with the fond (the fat, salt and pepper that have been left behind from the cooking of the duck breasts) in the pan.
• Add the chicken stock and the sherry or vermouth, and partly cover the pan to simmer the vegetables until soft and cooked, about 4 minutes. The liquid will be absorbed, the high note of the alcohol will burn off and a loose sauce will remain when finished cooking.
• Season the vegetables with salt and pepper as needed, and drizzle some more of the rendered duck fat over the whole deal if that moves you, as it does me.
• Slice the duck breasts across at a slight bias, approximately the thickness of your pinkie, and serve each with endive and cauliflower. Sprinkle a few drops of sherry vinegar over each serving to finish.