Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the tamarind sauce
10g olive oil
200g duck bones, chopped into 2cm pieces
2 shallots, sliced
1 clove of garlic
2 sprigs fresh thyme
80g button mushrooms, sliced
150g red wine (cabernet sauvignon)
250g brown chicken stock (see recipe)
100g fresh tamarind puree
10g balsamic vinegar, 8 year old
Salt, pepper and lemon juice
Arrowroot to thicken if needed
For the braised chestnuts, apple and celery:
30g butter, unsalted
200g chestnuts, peeled
50g celery, chopped, 1cm thick
½ Braeburn apple, skin on, core removed, cut into large dice 2cm
200ml water
10g caster sugar
Salt, pepper and lemon juice
For the duck
4 x 220g duck breasts, skin scoured
Salt and pepper
For the roast sweet potato and parsnips
1 sweet potato, peeled, cut lengthways into 4 x 7mm slices
2 parsnips, peeled, trimmed, each cut lengthways into 4 pieces
10g groundnut oil (or other non-scented oil)
4 sprigs thyme
20g butter, unsalted
Salt and pepper
For the cabbage
1 head hispi cabbage, outer leaves removed, inner leaves cut into 3cm squares
20g groundnut oil
10g soy sauce
50g water
5g roasted sesame oil
Salt and pepper
Method
For cooking the sauce
Preheat the oven to 200�C. In an ovenproof frying pan, on a medium heat, caramelise the duck bones in the oil for 5 minutes, place the pan in the oven and roast for 20 minutes to rich golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven. On a high heat add the sliced shallots, garlic and thyme followed by the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes until light brown. Pour in the red wine, and boil for 1 minute to remove the alcohol and deglaze the bottom of the pan. Add the brown chicken stock bring to the boil, skim and simmer on a low heat for 25 minutes.
Pass the sauce through a fine sieve and return to the heat. Whisk in the tamarind puree, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and lime juice. Pass once more through a fine sieve. Taste, correct seasoning if necessary and reserve.
For cooking the chestnuts, apple and celery
In a small sauce pan on a medium heat, sweat the celery, apple and chestnuts in the butter for 4 minutes. Pour in the water; bring to the boil and season with the salt, pepper, sugar and lemon juice. Cook on a low heat (bubble just breaking the surface) for 20 minutes until soft and melting.
For seasoning the duck breasts and rendering of the fat
Season the duck breasts with the salt and pepper. On a medium heat, in a large frying pan place the duck breast skin side down. Colour the skin for about 10 minutes, pouring off the excess fat every 2 minutes until the skin is a golden brown. Turn the duck onto its flesh side and sear for 1 minute to lock in the juices inside the breasts during cooking. Return the duck breasts to their skin sides and place in the hot oven for 4 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 4 minutes.
For cooking the sweet potato
While the skin on the duck is rendering, blanch the sweet potato and parsnips in boiling water for 2 minutes and then place in a colander. Then in a large pan, on a medium heat, roast the sweet potato slices and the parsnips in the groundnut oil and butter. Season with the salt and pepper and colour them for 5-6 minutes/side. Tansfer the pan to the oven to finish cooking for 4 minutes.
For the cabbage
On a high heat in a large frying pan/wok, pour in the groundnut oil. Add the spring cabbage, salt and pepper. Toss in the hot oil to wilt and add the soy sauce and water, cook quickly for 2-3 minutes and then stir in the roasted sesame seed oil. Correct the seasoning if necessary.
To serve
On hot plates, place the slice of sweet potato just below the centre of the plate. Position the duck breast on top of the sweet potato and rest the parsnips against the duck. Arrange a healthy spoon of drained cabbage above the sweet potato and scatter the chestnuts, apple and celery round the outside. Spoon the hot sauce generously over the duck and around the plate, then serve.
Chef's notes:
Fresh tamarind is far superior to the processed purée that you can buy in the shops. Asian supermarkets are the best suppliers of fresh tamarind.
To prepare fresh tamarind: In a small saucepan, take 100g of fresh-shelled tamarind. Pour hot water over the pulp and leave for 1 hour to re-hydrate. Then drain and pass through a sieve reserve the pulp for the sauce.
Fresh chestnuts are the best; however peeling them at home is very tricky and time consuming. You can now buy frozen shelled chestnuts in good supermarkets, which offer a good alternative.
So many Soya sauce varieties are produced artificially, while lacking in flavour they also have a large salt content. Use naturally fermented Soya sauce such as 'Kikkoman'.
'Deglaze the pan' is kitchen terminology for removing caramelised juices from the bottom of the pan, in doing this you can maximise the flavour of the sauce!
