Roasted Breast Of Duck With Foie Gras And Leek Stuffing Recipes

ROAST QUAIL STUFFED WITH FOIE GRAS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Season quail, stuff with foie gras and wrap with bacon. In oven proof saute pan heat 2 tablespoons of the butter over moderate heat until hot. Add quail and cook until golden on all sides. Transfer to oven and roast 15 minutes. Transfer quail to a serving dish.
• Discard all but 2 tablespoons fat from pan. Add shallot and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Deglaze pan with Armagnac, scraping up brown bits clinging to bottom of pan. Add veal stock and reduce to 1 cup. Add enough arrowroot to lightly thicken sauce. Whisk in remaining butter.
• Pour juices from platter containing quail into sauce and stir to combine. Coat quail with sauce and garnish with chervil.
• Recommended Wine: 1983 Gevrey-Chambertin, Clos Prieur, Domaine Rene Le clerc

ROASTED BREAST OF DUCK WITH FOIE GRAS AND LEEK STUFFING

Steps:

• To bone, place duck breast up and remove the flap of skin covering the wishbone. Scrape along the wishbone with the back of a paring knife to expose the bone. Reach in with index finger and thumb to remove the wishbone by pulling it out, being careful not to tear the meat.
• Make incision along the breastbone and from breastbone down to rib cage. Follow rib cage to thigh and wing joints and carefully cut through thigh and wing joints leaving wing attached to breast. Separate the breast from the thigh and leg.
• Remove the wing at the middle joint and cut the end of the attached wing bone square. Push the meat on the wing down toward the breast, cleaning the bone with a paring knife. Push the meat on the bones of the thigh and leg, leaving the leg bone attached to the meat at the drum end. Square off the end of the drumstick with a French knife. Remove the thigh and the thighbone. Repeat for other half of duck. (Note: you may use boneless duck breasts if limited on time.)
• Lay breasts skin side down, clean the excess skin, and shape into teardrops with a boning knife. From the thick end, pierce the breast directly beneath the skin, straight in to the tip of the breast, making a pocket. Be careful not to poke through the flesh while making pocket. Pocket should extend the length of the breast.
• In a saucepan, saute the leeks in the butter until tender. Add the herbs and carefully deglaze the pan with apple brandy. Add 1 ounce of cream, reduce until thickened, and cool.
• In a meat grinder, grind the thigh meat and liver through the fine die. Using a food processor, process until smooth. Add remaining cream, and mix well. Add leek mixture, and season, to taste.
• Using a pastry bag, pipe approximately 2 tablespoons of forcemeat into each duck breast pocket. Plug the end of the pocket with the tender.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Brown duck breast in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, skin-side down, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Turn duck breast over, place in the oven, and cook until desired temperature is reached.

TRIO OF DUCK ROASTED BREAST, LEG CONFIT AND SEARED FOIE GRAS WITH HORSERADISH PARSNIP PUREE AND HUCKLEBERRY BRANDY SAUCE

Steps:

• On 4 warm dinner plates pipe the horseradish parsnip puree through a piping bag slightly off center on each plate. Spoon or ladle the huckleberry brandy sauce around the parsnip puree. Place a quarter of the hot duck confit around 1/2 of the parsnip puree towards the center of the plate. Place the sliced duck breast on top of the confit in a fanned circular fashion. Place 1 piece of foie gras on top of each breast and garnish with a sprig of parsley and fried parsnip strips.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• French each breast by scrapping the meat, skin and tissue off of the wing bone while keeping it attached to the breast. With the heel of a chef's knife make a clean break on the bone without creating any fragments. (You can also purchase boneless duck breasts if you desire.)
• Score the skin on each breast by lightly cutting through the skin but not into the meat. Make a criss cross pattern to allow for easy rendering. Preheat a large saute pan and add the canola oil. Season the duck with salt and pepper on all sides. Place the breasts into the skillet, skin side down. Turn the heat down to low and allow the breasts to render for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the skin is very crispy.
• Turn the breasts over and place in the oven and cook for 2 to 4 minutes or until desired doneness. Remove the duck and allow it to rest for 1 to 2 minutes. Slice the breast into 4 to 6 equal pieces and serve immediately. The duck should be served medium rare.
• Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F.
• Place a heavy gauge skillet on the stove over medium heat. Add 1 ounce of canola oil to the pan and add the duck legs, skin side down. Turn up the heat to make sure that the legs are rendering but not burning. Render the legs for 15 to 20 minutes or until the skin is completely crispy. Remove the legs from the pan, saving the duck fat, and place the duck legs into a deep oven proof dish. Place the onions, garlic, celery and thyme over the duck legs. Poor the rendered duck fat over the legs and add as much canola oil as you need to completely cover the duck. Cover the dish with tin foil and place in the oven for 3 to 4 hours. Remove the dish and allow it to cool. Remove the duck legs from the fat and remove the skin. With a fork or small knife begin to shred and remove all the meat from the legs. The meat should be very tender and shredded into thin even pieces. This can be done days in advance and reheated when needed.
• Heat a saute pan over very high heat and allow it to get extremely hot. Place the foie gras into the pan with no oil and saute for 30 to 40 seconds on each side or until crisp and golden brown. Serve immediately.
• In a large sauce pot add the potatoes and the parsnips and season with salt. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Allow it to simmer until the potatoes are tender. Drain the potatoes and parsnips and place into a blender or food processor. Add the heavy cream to form a mashed consistency. Add the horseradish and puree until very smooth and season with salt, to taste. Do not over mix. Place the mixture into a pastry (piping) bag and reserve hot for the assembly.
• In a small saucepan add all ingredients together and bring to a boil. Reduce by 2/3 and season with lemon juice and salt.

ROASTED DUCK BREASTS WITH WILD MUSHROOM STUFFING AND RED-WINE SAUCE

Steps:

• Make the stuffing: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake bread cubes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet until just golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely. Pulse in a food processor (in batches, if needed) until coarse crumbs form, about 15 seconds; transfer to a bowl. Add 1/4 cup oil; toss well. Spread breadcrumb mixture on the baking sheet, and bake, stirring occasionally, until deep golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
• Heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until butter has melted. Add leeks, celery root, and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are soft, about 15 minutes. Raise heat to medium. Stir in mushrooms and thyme; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir vegetable mixture into breadcrumb mixture; let cool completely.
• Prepare the duck: Place duck breasts, skin sides up, on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, score lines, 1/2 inch apart, in a cross-hatch pattern into the fat; cut almost all the way through, but do not cut into flesh. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Cut six 14-inch pieces of kitchen twine. Lay 3 pieces of twine about 2 inches apart on cutting board. Place 1 duck breast half, skin side down, crosswise over twine. Place about 1/2 cup stuffing on top of duck. Top with another breast half, skin side up. Tie together tightly with the twine. Repeat with remaining breasts. Stuffed duck can be refrigerated, covered, overnight. Bring to room temperature before cooking.
• Bake remaining stuffing: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish; set aside. Stir together remaining stuffing and 1 1/4 cups stock in a large bowl. Transfer to prepared dish. Bake until top is crisp and pale golden brown but center is moist, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook the duck: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add duck breasts to skillet. Cook, turning once, until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes per side. Transfer breasts to a plate; pour fat from skillet into a heatproof container. Return breasts to skillet, and place in oven. Cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 125 degrees.for rare, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a plate; let rest in a warm place, loosely covered with foil, 15 minutes. Pour fat from skillet.
• Make the sauce: Lightly wipe out skillet, and place over medium-high heat. Add wine; cook until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add port, if desired, and stock. Simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add accumulated juices from the duck to skillet. Season with salt and pepper; whisk in butter. Pour sauce through a fine sieve into a gravy boat. Slice duck, and serve drizzled with sauce, with baked stuffing on the side.

ROASTED HEN STUFFED WITH FOIE-GRAS BUTTER AND BLACK TRUFFLES

Steps:

• Place 6 tablespoons of the butter and the foie-gras terrine in a food processor and process until smooth. Take out 1/2 cup of the butter and refrigerate the rest. Remove the hen's wishbone by lifting the skin around the neck, locating the bone and scraping away the meat with a small knife. Detach the bone from the wing joint and pull away. Using your fingers, separate the skin from the meat over the breast and legs.
• Fill a tipless pastry bag with 1/2 cup of butter. Slip the bag under the skin and pipe in butter over the legs and breast. With your fingers on the skin, press the butter evenly over the meat. Freeze for 10 minutes.
• Slice 1 1/2 ounces of the truffles and chop the rest. Slip the sliced truffles under the chicken skin, covering the butter. Season the cavity with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together and refrigerate 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the hen in a roasting pan and season the skin with salt and pepper. Melt 1/2 cup of butter and brush generously over the skin. Roast 30 minutes, basting with the melted butter. Lower the temperature to 375 degrees and baste until the hen is cooked, about 45 minutes.
• Boil a large pot of water and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and toss with 2 tablespoons of butter, the chopped truffles and salt and pepper to taste. Remove the hen from the pan and let sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, degrease the pan juices. Place over medium heat, add the demi-glace and simmer 1 minute. Turn heat to low and whisk in the remaining foie-gras butter.Season with pepper and salt if needed. Carve the hen.
• To serve, divide the pasta among 4 plates. Surround with the sauce and top with slices of the hen. Serve.

GARLIC ROASTED DUCK BREAST

Steps:

• Place duck breast skin side-down on a cutting board. Cut a small slit from top to bottom, 2/3 of the way through the duck breast. Season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Place duck breast skin side-down in the hot skillet; cook until browned, about 30 seconds. Flip and repeat on the other side.
• Transfer duck breast to a clean work surface, skin-side down. Place 3 or 4 garlic strips inside the slit. Place rosemary sprig over garlic; top with remaining garlic strips. Place skin side-up in a baking pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 120 degrees F (50 degrees C), about 10 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil. Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.