Flavour by the duckload
Grapefruit-glazed duck breast with pea purée, roasted onion and Pommes Duchesse
I’ve been preoccupied with the first part of my project portfolio and preparations for the mock exam which are both due on Friday so it was news to me that we had one more free interpretation dish. Oops. I did 10 minutes thinking about what I’d cook just before midnight last night. I figured I’ll wing it. If I’ve learned anything at Le Cordon Bleu it’s ruthless prioritisation and compartmentalisation.
Here goes.
Duck. Duck breast. No butchery means sad Simon but I’m ok with it. Mock exam. Focus. Focus.
Duck breast means skin so let’s get crispy.
Time for a glaze. And a gastrique. No that’s not some invasive medical technique to deal with a farty bottom. A gastrique is an acid and sugar, caramelised, and used to boost a hot sauce. From the ingredients list, I used grapefruit juice and zest with honey.
I served the duck with burnt grapefruit, a roasted onion shell filled with Pommes Duchesse, pea purée, glazed carrot bâtonnets and turnip macédoine. It came out just dandy.
The duck breast was pan-fried and finished in the oven. While resting the skin was brushed with the glaze. What remained was added to a reduced jus I made from chicken wings and veal stock.
Grapefruit segments were rolled in the glaze and then torched to char one face.
The onion was cut in half, pan-fried to give the face some colour, and then roasted in the oven. Once soft, the centre rings were removed and puréed with the blanched peas. The pea purée was amazing. So fresh. So vibrant. Just lovely.
The pulp of a roasted potato was beaten with an egg yolk and plenty of butter to make Pommes Duchesse. Delicious. I added some thyme leaves for an earthy flavour. After piping it into the onion cup I passed the blow torch over the top to gratinate the edges. The blackened swirl looked pretty funky and the char added a smoky note to the buttery rich potato.
Turnip was cooked à l’Anglaise, in salted boiling water and finished in butter.
Carrot batons were glazed in water, butter, sugar and salt. Plus that cartouche with a hole in the middle, of course.
My duck was perfectly cooked and the jus was bang on. Everything else was also nicely cooked and properly seasoned. Boy was I surprised. Fuck a duck as they say!