Smoked Duck Hash
Purchase a whole smoked duck for this dish and use the carcass to make a rich duck stock for the apple-perfumed sauce. Add salt cautiously to the hash to achieve a good balance of savory, sweet, and smoky in the hash-filled pastries.
Ingredients
- Smoked Duck Hash
- Clarified Unsalted Butter - 1 tablespoon
- Onion - 1/2 cup, minced
- Celery - 1/2 cup minced
- Andouille Sausage - 4 ounces, cut into 1/2-inch dice (alt. smoked sausage)
- Apple - 1, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch cubes
- Smoked Duck - 1/2, but into 1/2-inch cubes
- Sweet Potato - 1, baked, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- Dry Sherry - 2 tablespoons
- Flour - 1 tablespoon
- Fresh Sage - 1 teaspoon, minced
- Fresh Thyme - 1 teaspoon, minced
- Salt to taste
- Duck Stock - 1/2 cup (alt. chicken stock)
- Crust
- All-Purpose Flour - 1-1/2 cups, unbleached
- Salt - 1 teaspoon
- Unsalted Butter - 1/2 cup (1 stick), cold, cut into bits
- Cold Water - 8 to 10 tablespoons
- Egg - 1
- Milk - 1/4 cup
- Sauce
- Clarified Unsalted Butter - 1 tablespoon
- Shallot - 1, minced
- Apple Juice - 1 cup
- Duck Stock - 1 cup (alt. chicken stock)
- Apple cider vinegar - 2 tablespoons
- Apple Jelly - 2 tablespoons
- Calvados Brandy - 2 tablespoons
- Unsalted Butter - 1 tablespoon, cold
- Salt to taste
- Garnish
- Crème Fraiche - 1 cup
- Mixed Fresh Parsley and Celery leaves - 3 tablespoons
- Celery Leaf Sprigs - 6
Instructions
To make the hash: In a large saute pan or skillet, heat the clarified butter over medium-high heat and saute the onion and celery until they begin to color, about 2 minutes. Add the andouille sausage to the pan and stir, then add the apple and continue to cook and stir until the apple begins to color, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the herbs and salt, then add the stock, stirring to scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat, let cool, and refrigerate for 30 to 40 minutes.
To make the crust: In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough begins to hold together. Form the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Roll the pastry dough into a 1/8-inch-thick sheet on a lightly floured surface. Cut the dough into six 5-inch squares. Spoon about 1/2 cup of hash into the center of each square. Whisk together the egg and milk to make an egg wash and brush the edges of a square of dough. Pull two opposite corners of the dough together in the center and pinch them together, then bring the remaining corners to the center and pinch. Crimp the seams to seal the dough completely. Repeat to fill all the squares. Brush the pastries with egg wash and place on a lightly buttered baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
To make the sauce: In a medium saute pan or skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and saute the shallot for 1 minute. Add the apple juice, stock, and cider vinegar and cook over high heat to reduce to 1-1/2 cups, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the apple jelly and stir until it is melted, then remove the pan from the heat and add the Calvados. Strain the sauce through a fine-meshed sieve and return it to the pan. Just before serving, place the pan over medium heat, quickly whisk in the cold butter, and season to taste with salt.
To serve: Spoon a large circle of sauce in the center of each plate. Place the crème fraiche in a squeeze bottle and squeeze a ring of crème fraiche just inside the pools of sauce, then drizzle bits of crème fraiche through the center of the sauce. Place 1 duck hash pastry on each plate and spoon more sauce over and around each serving. Sprinkle the plates with chopped parsley and celery; insert a sprig of celery leaves in the crust of each pastry.
