Spiced duck with baked creamy potatoes

2 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
300 grams Potato; peeled
150 millilitres Chicken stock; (from a cube)
150 millilitres Double cream
3 tablespoons Calvados
50 grams Unsalted butter; about
2 Shallots
Olive oil; for cooking
Good dash white wine
2 Duck breast fillets; trimmed
2 teaspoons Coarse ground black pepper
½ teaspoon Ground nutmeg and ginger
¼ teaspoon Ground cloves
1 small Courgette
1 Eating apple
½ Lemon; pips removed
1 small Bunc fresh chives
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 220C/450F/Gas 7 and preheat the grill.

1 Thinly slice the potatoes using a mandolin, being careful of your fingers.

2 Place in a small pan with 50ml/2fl oz stock, 85ml/3fl oz cream and 25g/1oz butter. Season generously, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for four minutes. Heat a frying pan.

3 Finely slice the shallots. Add some oil and a knob of butter to the heated frying pan and saute the shallots for 2-3 minutes until softened but not browned. Add 1 tbsp Calvados and set alight to burn off the alcohol.

4 Heat a small pan and pour in the last 2 tbsp Calvados. Pour in the wine, bubble down, pour in the last 85ml/3fl oz stock and reduce down by two-thirds.

5 Heat a griddle pan. Score the skin of the duck in a criss-cross pattern.

Season with salt. Mix the pepper, nutmeg, ginger and cloves in a small bowl and rub all over the duck breasts.

6 Place two 10cm/4in cooking rings on squares of buttered foil and set on a baking sheet. Remove the potatoes from the cream and stock mix with a slotted spoon.

7 Use the potatoes to layer up in the cooking rings with the sauteed shallots, finishing with a layer of potatoes. Dot with a little butter and place in the oven for 12-15 minutes until tender and lightly golden.

8 Place the duck breasts skin-side down on the heated griddle pan and cook for eight minutes.

9 Dice 50g/2oz of the courgette and plunge into a pan of boiling salted water. Blanch for 1 minute, then refresh under cold running water.

10 Peel the apple, remove the core and finely dice the flesh. Squeeze over a little lemon juice and toss to coat to prevent the apple from going brown.

11 Add a little oil and a knob of butter to the frying pan and saute the apple dice for a few minutes until just beginning to caramelise.

12 Add the courgette dice to the pan and cook for another minute or so, stirring until the courgette is just beginning to brown. Snip the chives.

13 Pour the reduced down Calvados mixture into the apple and courgettes, stirring until well combined. Pour in the remaining 50ml/2fl oz cream and just warm through. Season and stir in the chives.

14 Turn over the duck breasts and cook for another two minutes until just tender. Remove from the heat and leave to rest for a few minutes.

15 Flash the layered up potato rings under the grill until bubbling and lightly golden, transfer one to a serving plate and carefully remove the cooking ring.

16 Carve the duck breasts on the diagonal and arrange to the side of the potatoes. Spoon some of the sauce around the edge of the plate and serve at once.

Converted by MC_Buster.

Recipe by: Anything You Can Cook Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.

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