Duck With Lentils And Bacon Date Puree Recipes

WINE-BRAISED DUCK WITH LENTILS AND WINTER VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Trim the duck legs, keeping the skin intact but removing any extraneous fat. Lay them in one layer on a baking sheet and season generously on both sides with salt and pepper.
• Heat a large skillet or Dutch oven on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add duck legs, skin-side down, and cook until nicely browned, about 10 minutes. (The legs will render a fair amount of fat as they cook.) Flip and cook for about 5 minutes more, until lightly browned. Remove legs from pan and set aside.
• Pour off all but 3 tablespoons fat from the pan (reserve it for another use). Place pan back on the stove over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery, salt lightly, and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bay leaf, thyme sprig, fennel seed and allspice. Continue to cook, stirring, until vegetable mixture is lightly browned, about 5 minutes more.
• Add tomato paste and flour to vegetable mixture and stir well to coat. Cook for a minute or so, then add chicken broth and wine and bring to a simmer. Return duck legs to pan in one layer, skin-side up. (The liquid will not completely cover the legs.)
• Cover pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until legs are tender when probed with the tip of a paring knife.
• Cook the lentils: Pick over lentils for rocks and debris, then rinse well. Place in a saucepan with a good pinch of salt. Using the cloves, pin the bay leaf to the onion. Add to the pot along with thyme sprig. Cover lentils with water by about 2 inches and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered with lid ajar, until tender, about 20 to 30 minutes. Taste often so that lentils are neither under nor over-cooked. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.
• When duck legs are cooked, remove from the oven and reduce the heat to 225 degrees. Transfer duck legs to an ovenproof serving dish, cover, and keep warm in the oven. Pour braising liquid into a saucepan. Spoon off any fat that rises to the surface and discard. Simmer braising liquid over medium heat until slightly thickened. Pour liquid over duck legs in the serving dish.
• Meanwhile, cook the vegetables: Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add carrots, celery root and parsnips. Simmer until tender, about 8 to 10 minutes, then drain and toss gently with butter. Sprinkle with half the parsley and chives.
• To serve, place a duck leg, some lentils and a spoonful of vegetables on each plate. Spoon sauce over duck leg and finish with more parsley and chives. Alternatively, pass everything on platters, family-style.

DUCK WITH LENTILS AND BACON-DATE PUREE

Steps:

• For bacon-date puree:
• Sauté bacon in small saucepan over medium heat until crisp. Stir in brandy, scraping up browned bits. Add dates and 1 1/4 cups water; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until dates are very soft, about 12 minutes. Transfer to blender. Puree date mixture until smooth, adding more water by tablespoonfuls if too thick to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Date puree can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill.
• For lentils:
• Place 8 cups water, lentils, garlic, and bay leaves in medium saucepan. Sprinkle with salt. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer until lentils are just tender but still firm to bite, about 15 minutes or longer, depending on type of lentils. Drain; rinse under cold water to cool. Drain; discard garlic and bay leaves. Transfer to large bowl.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add carrot, celery, and 1/3 cup shallots. Sauté until carrots and celery are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Stir carrot mixture into lentils. Mix remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons shallots and red wine vinegar in small bowl. Let mixture soak 5 minutes, then whisk in remaining 6 tablespoons oil. Add vinaigrette to lentil mixture; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
• Using sharp knife, score skin of duck breasts diagonally to create 3/4-inchwide diamond pattern. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 1 large skillet and 1 medium skillet over medium-high heat. Place 2 duck breasts in large skillet and 1 duck breast in medium skillet, skin side down. Cook until skin is brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Turn duck, skin side up, and cook until brown and thermometer inserted horizontally into center registers 130°F, about 6 minutes.
• Transfer duck to work surface. Drain all but 1 tablespoon fat from 1 skillet. Add shallot and sauté until beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add Sherry vinegar and stir, scraping up browned bits. Add broth; bring to boil. Season sauce with salt and pepper.
• Thinly slice duck breasts. Spoon 1/4 cup date puree in center of each of 6 plates and spread with back of spoon, forming well in center; spoon lentils into each well. Place duck breast slices atop lentils, dividing equally. Drizzle sauce over and serve.

DUCK AND LENTIL CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Pull as much fat as possible off the duck and reserve.
• Place the duck in a saucepan with the peppercorns, the onion stuck with cloves, celery and about one-half teaspoon salt. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil and simmer for about one and a half hours, until the duck is cooked through. Skim the surface from time to time, especially in the beginning. Remove the duck from the broth and set aside. Strain the broth. You should have four to five cups. Add water if necessary to bring the quantity of broth to five cups. Taste and season it with additional salt if necessary.
• Chop the reserved duck fat. If you have less than two tablespoons, add additional duck fat or chicken fat or oil. Melt the fat in a heavy casserole and saute the onion and green pepper in the fat until soft but not brown. Add the mushrooms and saute a few minutes longer. Stir in the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.
• Remove the skin from the duck and reserve it. Remove the skin and as much fat as possible from the duck and reserve it for another use if you wish; you will not need it in this recipe. Dice the duck meat and add it to the vegetables in the casserole.
• Rinse the lentils and add them to the casserole along with the five cups of stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until the lentils are tender, 45 minutes to one hour.
• While the lentils are cooking, cut the duck skin in thin strips and saute it in a skillet until it is crispy and brown. Before serving the casserole, scatter the fried duck skin pieces over the top and dust it with parsley.