What's on the menu?
Well, thanks to the welcome help of Shane and his crew over at Vieux Carre Market in Monroe and Inglewood Farms of Alexandria, I will be making seared Muscovy duck breast with Morel mushroom and red wine demiglace, alongside Parmesan risotto and local Brussels Sprouts. Needless to say, I'm proud of my menu selections (and also super-happy to source most everything locally). The big green thing you see is NOT a leek, but instead green garlic that I am going to incorporate into the red wine reduction and Brussels.
I'm not going to bore you with the mundane details of risotto and brussels cooking. Enough of those sorts of recipes are out there. What we're getting to tonight is the center of the dinner, the meat of the situation-- the beautiful, beautiful duck breasts.
Needed:
Rendered duck fat (at least 4 tbsp)
2 Muscovy (domestic/farm-raised) duck breasts. ** If you are using local game ducks, the temperature and cooking time varies depending on how fat the ducks are and how large they are. These regular domestic ducks are about 4 inches by 2.5 inches raw. A decent amount of fatty skin is on one side. If using hunted birds such as Teal and Mallard, I'll show you the adjusted cooking times below--
Salt and Pepper
Method:
1) Make sure duck breasts are completely thawed and at room temperature. There is nothing more ungainly than a somewhat frigid breast (y'know what I mean...) Salt and pepper generously.
2) In a completely steel pan, or cast iron, heat 4 tbsp rendered duck fat at medium heat until completely warm, shimmering, and slightly bubbling.
3) Score store-bought duck breasts (fatty ones) with cross-hatching to help crisp skin and render fat. Wild ducks, especially smaller ones, do not need scoring.
4) Place duck breasts skin side down in pan, and place splatter-guard on top. For the size duck-breasts we have, these are the cooking guidelines:
For rare - leave skin-side down for 8 minutes, flip, and cook for 4 minutes
For medium-rare - leave skin side down for 10 minutes, flip, and cook for 5 minutes
For medium - leave skin side down for 12 minutes, flip, cook for 6 minutes
For medium-well - leave skin-side down for 14 minutes, flip, cook for 7 minutes
For well - leave skin-side down for 16 minutes, flip, cook for 8 minutes.
Now, honestly, I never recommend going beyond Medium with good duck. It just isn't necessary, and if that's what you're after, just eat chicken or beef jerky.
*** If using wild duck, adjust all times by taking off approximately 2 minutes on each side. The fat in farm-raised duck goes a long, long way.
5) Remove duck from heat, place on platter to rest for 5 minutes. Salt skin-side again.
 |
| These babies are medium (on the nose) |
6) Don't forget you're going to have some delectable juices left in that pan. I used mine with red wine and mushrooms to create a nice pan-sauce. (and don't forget to drink some of that red wine, if you know what I mean.)
Morel Mushroom Pan-Sauce:
Soak 1oz Dried Morel Mushrooms in warm water for at least 10 minutes to rehydrate, reserving warm liquid. Once duck is cooked and pan juices have collected, turn heat to medium-high, add 1 cup red wine (preferably Syrah) and mushroom juices. If you are using the garlic greens like me, add them before the mushrooms and liquid to help them saute. Add salt, pepper, and a sprig of rosemary. Reserve mushrooms. Allow sauce to simmer and reduce by half. While reducing, chop finely the Morel mushrooms and return to sauce pan. Once reduced by half, remove from heat, and melt 3 tablespoons of butter into sauce. If sauce is still too runny for taste, add two tablespoons cornstarch at low heat; stir, and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove heat and serve.
Sit back, relax, and enjoy. I know we did!
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