Duck, Rhubarb, Apple

Doesn't matter how many different foods I cook with and discover, I will always revert to duck. I have come to the conclusion that it simply has to be my favourite meat in any guise. I love the tenderness and moisture from a well cooked and rested breast with the fat rendered to nothing but the thinnest crisp skin, to the unctious quality of a superbly confited leg. the fat itself is a great transporter of flavour and handled with care the carcass can be used to make a wonderful deep jus. And finally the liver is just enough for me on toast with a little marmalade whilst contemplating the rest of the bird.

As forced rhubarb is something quite special at the moment thought the pairing would be essential cooking for our menu this week. Wanting to introduce some spice without turning into an asian interpretation so began by making a few pickling liquors, one for the rhubarb, one for the compressed apple, and a dry rub for the duck itself.

The rhubarb was marinated under vacuum for 6 hours then poached in the bag at 70C for 12 minutes until it just starts to give under my fingers

The result was perfectly tender, the strings of the skin were present but break down easily in the mouth and no need to artificially boost the colour. The apple was cubed and soaked in an acidic pickle then compressed at full vacuum, the trim of both with a little of the rhubarb pickle I used to make a simple puree.

The duck breast, I dry rubbed with a combination of spices and left to dry cure overnight, then placed skin side down in a cold pan and brought up to a high heat to render off as much of the fat as possible from the very finely scored skin. this was chilled and bagged, we then cook this sous-vide for 1 hour at 60C, and then allowed to rest for a further 20 minutes.

As this softens the skin, we then return it to a cold pan and bring up again to render the last of the fat and crisp up the skin, it is then carved and the plate arranged.

Duck breast sous-vide

Rhubarb

Compresse apple

Ruhbarb/apple puree

Roasted Bok-choi

Gingerbread puree

Duck and apple reduction

sorrel & coriander

Chicken ballotine, wild mushroom fricasee and foie gras jelly

And the jelly from the previous post is used for...

Ballotine, stuffed with mushrooms, calves liver and spinach

agar triangle of mushroom fricasse

caramelized foie gras jelly

foie gras 'tapioca' rocks

parsley

Foie gras jelly, caramelized just one gram off

just one more gram of Agar, and this one will be ready to go.

Foie gras jelly

next the ballotine to go with it

BITTER TASTE, sideways step not quite off topic

Been a while, with apologies

we have a few posts to deliver, just not a huge amount of time to deliver them, shouldn't moan about being busy really. Also clocked up the BIG 40 last week, so still recovering from that, post party post on its way, Sally put on a great party and spread for me pushing herself something silly, and having never made one in her life attempted a croquembouche as a centrepiece (oddly was my birthday cake, not wedding) but the onlyway she could make something to get that many bloomin' candles into. Absolutely gorgeous it was too.

anyway, digression aside, this post is about a book, written by David Evans, an ex club chef (like myself, just not ex yet) and a cracking read, I felt it really deserved as big a plug as I can give it, so here is a brief excerpt from the book and a link to a blog where it can be picked up at an absolute bargain, if you like stories from the coalface of kitchen life then get off my blog, click the link and get a copy.

normal service will be resumed soon, with the repair of my laptop keyboard nearly complete (only the left hand side keys work) and some dishes and thoughts in the bag, we should be fulfilling our promise of posting what we play very soon.

anyway digressing (AGAIN), the book...........

About the Book: With a reputation forged in France, Jack Kennedy was the pick of the new crop of British-born chefs, and when he teamed up with a Mayfair socialite intent on establishing a restaurant to rival the world’s finest, the prospect of becoming a rich man was overshadowed by his yearning for international stardom.

But the dream turned into a nightmare when the owner decided to turn the restaurant into a private members club.

Maybe if Jack hadn’t invested his life savings he would never have risked life and limb to escape the golden handcuffs, but when his scam to recoup his stake backfired so unexpectedly, he resorted to extortion.

It would prove to be the biggest mistake he ever made

you can read up more on the Author HERE

Happy reading.