Mark Greenaway recipe: Duck, parsnip and orange

Roasted Duck Breast, Parsnip and Orange Purée. Picture: Paul Johnston

Roger and Susan at Gartmorn supply me with their superior free range ducks and the standard simply cannot be beaten.

Duck is a meat that should be carefully chosen and I really do recommend going for the best quality that you can afford – the taste and succulence of the end product will be proof that it was money well spent.

This week I am sharing my recipe for Roasted Duck Breast, Parsnip and Orange Purée. As I mentioned last week, some of my recipes consist of a few elements but when cooking at home then don’t feel that you have to include them all, you can pick and choose. For example, the method of cooking the duck breast with honey and thyme in this recipe is one that can be used again and again in different dishes.

Ingredients

Serves 4

For the pomme purée:

2 large potatoes

200g butter

50ml milk

Salt

For the confit duck leg and Savoy cabbage:

100ml chicken stock

25g butter

1 carrot, finely diced

1 leek, finely diced

A quarter of a savoy cabbage, shredded

1 leg of confit duck, skin and bone removed, meat shredded

For the parsnip and orange purée:

100g butter

500g parsnip, peeled and diced

3 shallots, peeled and diced

Zest of 1 orange

200ml chicken stock

200ml orange juice

100ml cream

For the duck breasts:

A drizzle of rapeseed oil

4 duck breasts

Honey

A few sprigs of thyme

Sea salt

Method

For the pomme purée:

Bake the potatoes at 185C for 2 hours.

Cut the potatoes in half.

Scoop out the flesh and weigh out 200g.

Mash the potato or pass it through drum sieve.

Transfer to a pan.

Melt the butter into the milk and pour slowly into the potatoes while stirring.

Season with salt.

Set aside.

For the confit duck and Savoy cabbage:

Bring the chicken stock and butter to a simmer.

Add the carrot and leek and simmer till tender.

Add the Savoy cabbage and shredded duck meat and heat through.

Keep warm until required.

For the parsnip and orange purée:

Sweat down the shallot, parsnip and orange zest in the butter until almost soft but not browned.

Add the chicken stock and bring to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes.

Add the orange juice and cream.

Pass the mixture through a fine sieve, reserving the liquid.

Blend the solid ingredients and add the liquid back into the blender.

Season to taste and keep warm until required.

For the duck breasts:

Preheat the oven to 185C.

Drizzle the rapeseed oil into a cold non-stick pan.

Place the duck breasts in the pan skin side down.

Place the pan over a medium heat and slowly raise the temperature until the duck skin starts to render out all of the fat and becomes crispy and golden.

Turn the duck breasts over and sear on the flesh side for 2-3 minutes.

Turn duck breast back on to the skin side.

Place in the oven for 8 minutes and turn the duck breasts back over. Pour a squeeze of honey over each duck breast.

Add the thyme to the pan and baste the duck breasts for 2-3 minutes.

Allow to rest in the pan for 4 minutes – this will rest the meat fully and it will slowly continue to cook.

To serve:

Heat the pomme purée and place in a piping bag.

Add a spoonful of the parsnip and orange purée to each plate. On a clean J-cloth, press the confit duck and cabbage mixture into a 1in cookie cutter to create a disk

Remove the J-cloth and press the mixture out of the cookie cutter on to the parsnip and orange purée. Repeat this process on each plate.

Pipe the pomme purée on to the confit duck mixture. Place a duck breast on to each plate and sprinkle with a little salt.

At the restaurant, we serve the confit duck and cabbage mixture in a potato tube.