Ingredients:
1 x Double Breast Duck (available at La Cave)
Sauce:
50g caster sugar
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar (available at La Cave)
175ml red wine (cooking wine available at La Cave)
1 x 345ml Preserved Cherries (available at La Cave) or 12 pitted fresh cherries or a handful equivalent frozen
Salad:
2 x Large Beetroot
50g x Buche de Chevre (goat's cheese) (available at La Cave)
handful of pistachios
3-4 handfuls of rocket lettuce
Method:
Turn oven on to 200 degrees Celcius.
Dry duck breast. If possible leave to sit uncovered in fridge for a couple of hours to dry skin further.
Bring out 30 minutes prior to cooking to bring meat to room temperature. Score the skin in a criss cross pattern. Cut through all layers of fat but try not to expose the meat.
Whilst Duck is coming up to room temperature, peel Beetroots and dice them into even sized pieces. Season with olive oil, salt & pepper and roast in the oven for approx 25 minutes or until cooked through depending if you like them softer or slightly firm.
Whilst beetroots are cooking, in a pan on medium heat put the duck breast skin down and fry off the layer of duck fat. The pan will fill up quickly with duck fat as you render the skin so you can remove if necessary during process or at the end but store in a jar to use for something later. This process can take 10-15 minutes for the fat to render and the skin to go crispy (when as much as the white fat is gone as possible). Adjust the heat if necessary so fat isn't spitting everywhere but also so it is rendering and not just heating in the pan.
Once the skin is rendered, turn the breast and cook for 1 minute on the other side to seal the meat.
Transfer in the pan (or onto an oven dish) (skin side down) into the oven to finish cooking for 8-10 minutes depending how pink you like the meat.
Whilst the duck is cooking, add the red wine vinegar and sugar to the pan to start the sauce. Use cooking pan with fat removed. Reduce until a sticky consistency.
Add red wine and cook out the alcohol. When you have the desired consistency you can add the cherries. If you prefer a thicker sauce add a bit of cornflour mixed with water to the sauce to thicken further.
Taste sauce and season accordingly. You can add some blackcurrant or redcurrant jam to sweeten or balance the sauce if necessary.
Mix Rocket leaves with beetroot and dress with pistachio oil or a basic vinaigrette. Spread on a plate and top with Buche de Chevre and pistachios (raw or roasted).
Leave the Duck to rest after cooking and then slice on an angle (not too thin) and place over the salad. Drizzle the sauce over the top of duck or serve on the side.
Bon appetit!