Duck with Garlic, Tomatoes and Olives : Canard à la Niçoise : Lesson 13 : LCB at Home

Today there were a few deviations from the recipes; this will be occurring as confidence builds while executing these lessons. 

Daurade Crue à l'Aneth : Marinated Sea Bream with Fresh Dill

It started out as Sea Bream but since I'd done the same recipe with Salmon in class in Paris we figured to go with the cheaper/more colorful option.  Layered between a mix of lemon and lime juice, shallots (very finely and neatly diced), olive oil, salt & pepper and a few hours to marinate.  Quite a success.

Salade d'avocat : Avocado Salad with Tomato

Unexpectedly (not mentioned in the menu listing) was a veggie salad to accompany the fish.  It's simply diced avocado mixed with some lemon juice, olive oil, and salt & pepper; with diced tomato and a few decorative leaves of lettuce underpinning it and some decorative dill on top. It's all very '70s looking. And surprisingly tasty for something so simple.

 

Canard à la Niçoise : Duck with Garlic, Tomatoes and Olives

The star of the show.  Delicious.  But there's not a lot of meat on one of these; I was worried that there wasn't enough for 6 people.

When preparing the duck remember to remove the wishbone (at the neck end); it makes the cutting of the meat ever so much easier.

Followed the recipe as written more or less (see the book: Le Cordon Bleu: At Home) except for two things:

1) I could not get a duck like the ones in France so we went over to Chinatown and got a nice fresh one there; as a result the tail end could not be trussed shut (as you can see on the right of the picture [compare to the picture in Marinated Fish, Duck, Crepes : Lesson 13 : Le Cordon Bleu at Home).

and 2) triple the use of cloves and don't discard them at the end

and 3) I didn't cook the whole thing on top of the stove. In cooking school and in professional kitchens the finishing of the dish is almost inevitably done in the oven; it's cooked in a covered casserole so why bother taking up space on a burner or two - better to get it out of the way.  Bring the thing to a boil on top of the stove and then stick it in a hot oven.
Some day I'd like to try this in the sous-vide manner - maybe 65C [145F] for a few hours.

well... also 4) I cooked it for an hour and then removed it from the stove to go on "standby" until dinner-time was closer.  Did the last half hour in a 350F [175C] oven to get it back up to temperature and finish it off.
I would have been better off cooking it for 40 minutes at first and then 30 at the end; the meat was very nice but would have been even better if it was a bit less "done".

oh, and...  5) I did not deglaze with cognac but with Brandy from Jerez (Spain); also delicious and much more reasonably priced.

Crêpes à la Gelée de Groseilles : Crepes with Red Current Jelly

Another major change to the recipe.  No red currant jelly.  It's strawberry season so let's exploit the opportunity.

Make the crepes (the sweet sort), sprinkle the "inside" with Cointreau, roll 'em up, line either side with 'berries and dust with powdered sugar.  These were very popular and a nice light finish to the meal.

Note:  Also served were some green beans (there are never any vegetable dishes in French cuisine) and a few baked potatoes (since the oven was on anyway).

Duck with Thyme Infused Honey Balsamic Pan Sauce

Lunch.  Had a duck breast remaining from last week's visit to the supermarket.  Vacuum packed, which lasts quite a while in my (very cold) fridge, but it was time to use it or lose it.  I thought… hmm, thyme  [actually I thought tomillo which is Spanish for 'thyme'] - a quick search of the internet produced an interesting hit at a public radio website. A brief read through and I was off to the kitchen to do something similar although I didn't actually follow their recipe. That's the way to go; read a couple of recipes for inspiration and then go get creative.

The "modern" style of naming of dishes is too wordy and overly descriptive but "duck with sauce" is rather underdescriptive; it's a dilemma.

On to the recipe - which is, now that I look at it, quite similar to the coriander one I did the other day,

Duck with Thyme Infused Honey Balsamic Pan Sauce

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• ½ C chicken stock (or duck, if you've got it)
  
• 1 duck breast, 300 gr [10 oz]
• salt, coarse
• pepper, black, freshly ground
• sugar, a pinch or two (this may well be superfluous)
  
• duck trimmings
• 1 garlic clove, slightly crushed
  
• 3 T honey
• 2 t thyme, dried
  
• 3 T balsamic vinegar

Procedure

1. Boil the chicken stock rapidly until it's practically thick - it'll be less than a ¼ cup
   • meanwhile…
2. Clean the duck up; removing any silverskin (thin membrane on the surface), excess (hanging over the edges) fat and score the fat side (prevents curling) 
   • Save all the trimmings (for later); especially the fat - it's delicious
3. Sprinkle pepper, salt and sugar on both sides of the duck breast - set aside
   
4. Put the duck trimmings and garlic into the pan you'll be cooking the duck breast in and crank the heat to melt/cook the fat.
   • preferably not a non-stick pan
5. Put honey and thyme into a very small saucepan, bring (just barely) to a boil and set aside to "infuse"
   • Now we'll get to the "cooking" part
     
6. Dump everything out of the cooking pan, pour off excess fat (don't wipe the pan clean though - we want the tasty bits that will be stuck to the bottom
   
7. On medium-high heat; or high if you're semi-professional
8. toss in the duck - fat side down
   • probably 3 minutes
9. Pour the reduced chicken stock into the honey-thyme infusion - reduce until it coats the back of a spoon - set aside (again)
10. Turn duck
    • probably 3 minutes more
11. Paint some honey-thyme sauce on both sides of the duck and cook for 30 seconds each side to glaze the beast
12. Remove duck to a plate
    
13. Pour off fat from the pan through a strainer and put the strained bits back into the pan
14. pour in balsamic vinegar and deglaze the pan (scraping up the good bits left behind from the cooking)
    • reducing until it's saucy (coats the back of a spoon)
15. add the honey-thyme infusion to the pan and reduce
16. add in the juices that seeped out of the duck while it was resting - reduce for the final time
17. cut the duck into thin diagonal slices and fan out on a couple of plates
18. strain the sauce and drizzle over the duck

Done

Notes

1. Duck should still be pink in the center when it's cooked - with a crispy skin

Did you notice that the pictures now have a little watermark in the lower left corner with the web site's name?  I'm using Windows Live Writer to post to the blog and it has a few interesting functions like that built right in.

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Duck Breasts with Honey Coriander Sauce

This one's good. The honey-coriander sauce can be used on a variety of dishes: pork, chicken, lobster, salmon, lamb, root veggies for example) so it's nice to have in your repertoire.
Simple; make the sauce and fry the breasts - drizzle sauce over meat - done.

Duck Breasts with Honey Coriander Sauce

Serves: 2 (with one duck breast, cook 2 breasts to serve 4 - leave the sauce the same)

Ingredients

• 1 duck breast, 300 gr [10 oz]
• salt
• pepper, black, freshly ground

• ¼ C oil, olive
  
• 2 T coriander seeds (yes, use seeds)
  
• ½ C honey, light
• ¼ C soy sauce
• ¾ C chicken stock (duck stock if you've got it - yah, sure)
  

Procedure

1. Trim duck breast, score the fat side in a grid pattern
• season with salt & pepper, set aside
2. Heat oil in a tiny frying pan
3. Toss in the corriander seeds for about 30 seconds
• Until they're aromatic and have darkened - but not burnt
4. Strain the seeds and smush up in a mortar
5. Honey and soy into a little pot
• Heat to boiling
6. Add hot stock and crushed coriander
7. Boil semi vigorously for 10 minutes - reducing by at least a third, maybe by half
   
8. Strain this sauce into yet another saucepan, set aside
   
9. In an ungreased frying pan fry the duck, fat side down first - low/medium heat
• for 10 minutes
10. Drain away the duck fat and turn over the breast
• fry for another 6 minutes
• or until done to your liking
11. Cut the duck breast on the diagonal, thinly and meanwhile
12. reheat the honey-coriander sauce
13. fan out the sliced dusk in a couple of plates
14. and drizzle sauce, through a strainer, around the duck

Done

Notes

1. Trimming a duck breast involves cutting, vertically, the overhanging fat from around the edges
2. You can render this fat and use it in the oil for frying the coriander
3. If you don't have a mortar just smash up the coriander any old which way; maybe a rolling pin. The idea is to crack the seeds open so they'll release their flavor
4. Reduce the sauce really well - until it coats the back of a spoon. More reduction is probably better
5. You can make the sauce days in advance
   
6. If the duck won't stay flat while cooking, and it probably won't, press down on it with a big flat spatula
   
7. Duck meat is always pink in the middle - except for those maniacs that insist on having everything well done
8. Save the duck fat; great for frying veggies in, or an egg - adds loads of flavor
   

Again, this recipe is from the great cookbook - Le Cordon Bleu: Quick & Light which is one of the most used for my day to day spontaneous what shall we have today cooking.

The pic's from yesterday because it's part 2 of the same dinner. So I'll add a close up.

Tags: duck recipes