Breast of Mallard Rôti ▶
Rich duck breast slices and pinot noir sauce are served with crispy potato baskets filled with sauteed vegetables, and sauteed red cabbage. Roasted garlic cloves accent each plate.
Ingredients
- Whole Mallard Breasts - 3, with breast bone
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Cloves Garlic - 8, unpeeled and blanched
- Shallot - 1, finely chopped
- Thyme - 1 sprig
- Bay Leaf - 1
- Carrot - 1, chopped
- Diced onion - 1/2, chopped
- Celery - 2 stalks, chopped
- Black Mushrooms - 3, sliced
- Armagnac - 2 ounces
- Pinot Noir - 1/4 to 1/2 bottle
- Duck Stock - 2 cups
- Green Peppercorns - 12
- Honey - 1 teaspoon
- Red Cabbage Garnish
- Bacon - 4 slices, diced
- Red Cabbage - 1/2 head, cored and julienned
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Potato Baskets
- Idaho Potatoes - 2 medium, peeled and rinsed
- Canola oil for deep-frying
- Unsalted Butter - 2 tablespoons
- Carrots - 2, peeled, julienned, and blanched
- Turnip - 1, peeled, julienned, and blanched
- Zucchini - 2, julienned and blanched
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
To prepare the duck: Preheat the oven to 500 F or its highest setting. Heat a large ovenproof saute pan or skillet over high heat. Season both sides of the duck breasts with salt and pepper and place, skin-side down, in the hot pan. Sear until the skin is brown and crispy, moving the duck in the pan from time to time. Turn and brown on the other side. Add the garlic cloves, shallots, thyme, bay leaf, carrot, onion, celery, and mushrooms. Turn the breasts skin-side up. Place the pan in the oven for 6 minutes, until the duck is medium rare. Remove the breasts from the pan and set aside; keep warm.
Remove the garlic cloves, peel, and reserve. Strain the pan juices and set aside the solids. Remove the fat from the pan juices. Put the pan and juices back over medium-high heat and add the armagnac; stir up all the browned bits. Add the pinot noir and all the reserved pan solids except the garlic cloves. Cook over medium-high heat until reduced by three-fourths in volume. Debone the duck breasts and add the bones to the reducing sauce. When the sauce has reduced, add the duck stock and peppercorns. Reduce again by one-half. Strain the sauce and stir in the honey. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside; keep warm.
To prepare the cabbage: Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat and cook the bacon until crisp. Season the cabbage with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Saute just until tender, tossing the cabbage as it cooks. Set aside.
To prepare the potato baskets: Shred the potatoes into long, very thin strips. Heat the oil to 360 F. Line a potato basket mold with the potato shreds, overlapping them. Deep-fry until golden-brown. Repeat to make 4 baskets.
To serve: Melt the butter in a large saute pan or skillet and quickly saute the carrots, turnip, and zucchini until softened. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Slice the duck breasts and fan slices on each of four warmed serving plates. Place a potato basket in the center of the fan of slices on each plate and fill with the sauteed vegetable mixture. Mound cabbage to one side on each plate. Spoon sauce over the duck slices. Sprinkle the plates with the roasted garlic cloves.
