Duck Breast With Cherry Hoisin Sauce, Pommes Purée And Charred Broccoli Recipe
A trio of classical techniques including rendering duck fat, perfectly cooking duck breasts, making a pommes purée and a pan sauce with cherries, hoisin and balsamic vinegar.
Ingredients
- 4 duck breasts, patted dry and skin scored in a criss-cross pattern
- 300g of tenderstem broccoli
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- olive oil, for cooking
- 1kg potatoes, peeled and cut into even chunks
- 150ml of whole milk
- 100ml of double cream
- 125g of salted butter, cold, chopped into cubes
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- 1 tsp ginger, finely grated
- 75ml of red wine vinegar
- 200g of cherries, pitted and chopped
- 3 tbsp of hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp honey
Method · 1 h
- For the pommes purée, place the potatoes in a saucepan of cold, salted water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 18-20 minutes until tender. Drain the potatoes thoroughly and let them steam dry
- Meanwhile, gently warm the milk and cream in a small saucepan until steaming but not boiling
- Mash the potatoes until smooth, or ideally push them through a sieve one at a time. Beat in the chopped butter a little at a time with a spatula, until fully emulsified into the potato. Finally, add the warm milk and cream mixture until silky and smooth. Taste and season with salt if needed
- Season the duck breasts with salt and pepper and place skin-side down in a cold, dry frying pan. Place on a medium heat and cook slowly for 10-12 minutes to allow the fat to render out gradually and for the skin to become golden and crisp. Turn the duck over and cook for a further 4 minutes. Rest the duck for 10 minutes loosely covered on a tray, leaving the fat behind in the pan
- Preheat the grill to high
- Stir the shallots, garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Add the red wine vinegar and let it reduce by half
- Add the cherries, hoisin sauce, balsamic vinegar and honey. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 12 minutes until the cherries have softened and the sauce has thickened. Taste and adjust the seasoning
- Whilst the sauce is simmering, rub the broccoli with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray and grill until charred, then finish with a squeeze of lemon. Slice the duck breast
- To serve, plate up the pommes purée, add the duck breast slices alongside. Spoon the cherry hoisin sauce over the duck and arrange the broccoli in the middle
