Another delicious recipe by Frances Atkins. My third attempt to cook a Michelin star dish in a domestic kitchen, without ever have tasted or seen the final dish.
Read about challenge no. 1 here
and challenge no. 2 here
English Duck with Poached Lychees jasmine tea cabbage and smoked pommes puree
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| Taste 10 x Presentation 0 |
Course Mains
Main Ingredient – Poultry & Game
Total time 3 hours plus resting time overnight
Diners 4
Make your own food smoker from a roasting tray, hickory wood chips and tin foil to smoke the cream for the pommes purée
INGREDIENTS
English duck
Ingredients group 1
1 duck
1 small bunch of fresh rosemary
1 small bunch of fresh thyme
100g sea salt
1 litre vegetable oil
pepper
Ingredients group 2
Jasmine tea sauce and poached lychees
Ingredients
2 sachets of jasmine tea
1 shallot
300ml chicken stock
2 dsp verjuice
salt
pepper
12 lychees
Ingredients group 3
Smoked pommes purée
Ingredients
200g Maris Piper potatoes
145ml whipping cream
Ingredients group 4
Caramelized chicory and cabbage
2 medium heads of chicory
2-3 tbsp boiling water
1 tbsp sugar
small knob of butter
1/4 cabbage
salt
Ingredients group 5
Butternut and celery
100g butternut squash
splash of oil
salt
pepper
2 stalks of celery
knob of butter
EQUIPMENT
greaseproof paper
handful of hickory wood chips
METHOD
Step 1 To butcher the duck, take a sharp knife and place the bird on a secure chopping board. Pull one duck leg gently back towards the other leg so you can see where the joint between the leg and the back.
Step 2 Feel for the joint. Carefully cut through it, and not the leg bone, then repeat the process for the other leg
Step 3 Take the breasts off the crown of the duck by placing the bird breast-side up on a chopping board
Step 4 Feel for the central bone and carefully cut down one side, as close to the bone as possible
Step 5 Open up the cut to check that you are not leaving any breast meat on the bone. Follow the bone down and along the central bone until you have released all the breast meat
Step 6 Repeat this process for the second breast, then place both in a clean container in the fridge until needed
Step 7 Chop the rosemary and thyme before adding to a food processor
Ingredients
1 small bunch of fresh rosemary
1 small bunch of fresh thyme
Step 8 Put the salt into the food processor with the herbs and blitz until well combined. Rub the mixture into the duck legs well and leave in the refrigerator overnight
Ingredients
100g sea salt
Step 9 The next day, preheat the oven to 160˚C/Gas mark 3
Step 10 Wash off the salt mixture by rinsing well under running cold water and confit the legs in oil by placing the legs in a small but deep ovenproof container
Step 11 Cover completely in oil and bake for 1 hour 30 minutes. When cooked, remove the legs carefully from the oil and cool on a rack on top of a tray, then place in the fridge
Ingredients 1 litre vegetable oil
Step 12 Turn the oven up to 200ºC/Gas mark 6
Step 13 Peel and cut the butternut squash into batons of equal thickness and round the edges of each piece off. Roast in the oven with a little oil and salt and pepper for 20–30 minutes
Ingredients
100g butternut squash, splash of oil, salt, pepper
Step 14 Clean and de-string the celery. Cut into equal lengths and round the edges of each piece, then poach in a small amount of water and the knob of butter until tender. Keep warm until needed
Ingredients
2 stalks of celery,
knob of butter
Step 15 Add boiling water to the sachets of jasmine tea
Ingredients
2 sachets of jasmine tea
Step 16 To make the jasmine tea sauce, chop the shallot and boil in 200ml of the chicken stock, 1 dsp of the verjuice and the jasmine tea for 15 minutes
Ingredients
1 shallot,
200ml chicken stock,
1 dsp verjuice
Step 17 Add the remaining stock, reduce slightly, and season with salt and pepper if needed
Ingredients
100ml chicken stock, salt, pepper
Step 18 Peel and boil the potatoes, pass through a ricer or sieve while still hot to ensure a fine mash, then cover with greaseproof paper and keep warm
Ingredients
200g Maris Piper potatoes
Step 19 To smoke the cream for the pommes purée, place 100ml of the cream in a stainless steel bowl or pan
Ingredients
100ml whipping cream
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| Better get the real smoker! |
Step 20 Put enough hickory wood chips on a thick roasting tray to cover the tray. Place a cooking rack on top and put the bowl of cream on the rack
Step 21 Cover with tin foil and place over a hot heat for 4 minutes until the cream is ‘smoked’
Step 22 Quickly mix the infused cream with the riced or sieved potatoes, cover with greaseproof paper and leave in a warm place
Step 23 To make the roast duck, preheat the oven to 210˚C/Gas mark 7 and remove the bones from the confit legs in as large pieces as possible
Step 24 Place the meat in a dry pan or metal tray in the oven for 15 minutes until the skin is very crisp
Step 25 Score the skin of the duck breast and season with sea salt and pepper. Place the scored breasts skin-side down in a very hot, dry ovenproof frying pan. Brown the skin thoroughly for a few minutes
Step 26 Turn over to seal the meat, then return to skin-side down. Place the pan in the oven with the duck legs for the last 8 minutes
Step 27 Whilst the duck finishes cooking, caramelize the chicory by placing it in a pan with 2-3 tbsp boiling water, the sugar and butter until golden.
Ingredients
2 medium heads of chicory, 2-3 tbsp boiling water, 1 tbsp sugar, small knob of butter
Tip: As the chicory cooks, keep it moving in the pan so that the caramel coats it completely
Step 28 At the same time, put the chopped cabbage in a pan of boiling water with a small amount of salt and boil until tender
Ingredients
1/4 cabbage, salt
Step 29 To plate, remove the duck legs from oven and carefully remove the crisp skin from the meat
Step 30 Place the chicory and cabbage on the plate. Pile the duck leg meat on top of the chicory with the crispy skin on top of that
Step 31 Slice the duck breast and arrange on the plate on top of the blanched cabbage
Step 32 Warm the stoned lychees in the remaining verjuice and place on top of the duck
Ingredients
12 lychees, 1 dsp verjuice
Step 33 Place the smoked pommes purée on the plate along with the turned celery and the butternut squash to garnish. Finish with the jasmine tea sauce
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| Yes, again need to work on my presentation! |
My Feedback
A lot of produce in one plate, worth pointing out not to over fill the plate (like me) . Attention to presentation! Butchering the duck – better ask the butcher to cut into pieces.
Need a bit of prep prior to start cooking. Timings are fine. It all works well. Maybe too much vegetables to prepare, cook and keep warm for a beginner.
Verjuice – couldn’t find it, due to tight deadline given to test this recipe. Instead I used apple juice, lemon and wine mixture. I think worked well.
Smoking the cream – again due to the tight deadline, I improvised and used the BBQ to smoke the cream. Better to get the real thing! Flavours all worked well. Hope I made justice!
