This is a favorite of mine; it is a recipe for Duck, I have made it for a few years now and even managed to talk the owner and the head chef of my restaurant ( I am a sus chef ) to put it on the menu was on there last October. ^-^
Pan Roasted Duck Breast With Pumpkin Gnocchi in Brown Butter and Sage.
- The recipe as follows serves 4 -
-Ingredients -
The Duck
4 Large Duck Breasts
1tsp fresh thyme finely chopped
3tbl Butter ( A high quality butter )
Fennel Pollen ( this is a final touch; and you can find this at high end food stores)
The Gnocchi
120z Pumpkin ( Do not use canned use a small whole pumpkin )
1large Egg ( fresh is best make it the highest quality egg you can get your hands on) I prefer a duck egg for this as it adds a certain richness missing from the chicken egg plus the use of duck eggs with duck breast is a nice complement.
Pinch of salt ( Sea Salt )
½ cup duck fat ( save this from the duck breasts after it renders out! Or buy it in the store) or canola oil
2 cups all purpose flour
3 Whole cardamom pods toasted and ground
A generous Pinch of Saffron ( a little goes a long way )
2-3 fresh sage leaves finely chopped.
Take your pumpkin, and after you gut it and wash the seeds off set them aside to toast. Now take the pumpkin and peel it with a vegetable peeler and quarter it and cube the quarters. Now drizzle on some olive oil, sea salt and fresh cracked Black pepper ( to taste), as well as a ¼ tsp ground ginger, 1tsp cardamom. Roast the pumpkin in an oven safe dish at 375degreese F for 10-15 mins. Once the pumpkin is cooked set it a side to cool for a few mins, while it is cooling take your 2 cups of flour, salt, cardamom and sift it with the flour. Put it on a clean work surface and make a well in it. Crack the Egg and add saffron into the well, add the fat or oil and work them slowly into the dry ingredients. Once it is all worked in, take the roasted pumpkin, mash it with a fork or potato masher. Add the mashed pumpkin to the flour mixture until it is combined. Now Knead the dough lightly for 4 mins or so, until it is dry and firm to the touch- now roll the dough into ¾” thick dowel shape. Set it aside to rest for a few minuets while you get the water for the Gnocchi ready. In a large 6 quart pot, salt the water lightly ( pinch), set on med/high to get it to a rolling boil. Now we Switch off to the Duck
Take the Duck breast and trim it for extra fat and skin. On the top of the breast score the skin slightly witch a cross hatch pattern only deep enough to hit the fat layer under the skin. Season with salt and Cracked Black Pepper to taste. In a hot large pan add the butter and half the thyme, and place the duck skin side down. As the Duck roasts baste the duck with the drippings in the pan; once the skin side is golden brown and comes up with out sticking flip them. Continue to baste with the pan dripping sand add the second half of the thyme. Once you have the duck to desired doneness ( I recommend medium rare ) place the duck out on a cutting board to rest. Place the pan back on the heat and add 1 cup of stock ( duck or veg stock).
Return to the boiling water and add the Gnocchi. When they float they are done, quickly add them to an ice bath to quickly cool them and stop the cooking. On a burner on med/high, add half a stick of butter, cut into pieces, pinch of salt and black pepper, once the butter begins to brown slightly take the gnocchi and add it to the pan. At this point all you want to do is brown the gnocchi slightly and turn the butter into a golden butter sauce. Add the sage and toss to coat the gnocchi.
Once done place the gnocchi into a bowl and set aside. As you where tossing the gnocchi in the butter sauce you where of course tending the pan sauce in the duck pan. Take it off the heat as soon as it has reached the nappe ( when the sauce is thick enough to hold a line when you wipe your finger on the back of a spoon covered in said sauce). Set it aside and tend to your duck. Slice each breast on a slight bias and place on a plate after you have placed a small amount of sauce on the plate fanned out slightly in a half moon. Spoon sauce over the breast as well. Place a hearty portion of the gnocchi on the plate next to the breast in a nice line, the gnocchi should be glistening from the butter and very fragrant from the saffron and cardamom. Now sprinkle the top with a touch of freshly chopped thyme and sage ( go easy on sage its powerful stuff). The final, touch on the gnocchi is a sprinkling of toasted pumpkin seeds. The duck gets a final dusting of fennel pollen. The whole dish should get one final pinch of Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper.
You have just made a fantastic dish, of pan roasted duck in a pan sauce, and pumpkin gnocchi with cardamom and saffron in brown butter and sage with toasted pumpkin seeds. An addition of a veg is not necessary but is a nice touch and seeing as it is fall the addition of any root veg parsnip/ carrots / celery root or of course fennel which would complement every thing nicely. A simple saute or pan roast would be best for the veg keep it simple let the duck and gnocchi shine.
I hope you enjoy this dish: please let me know how it turns out for any of you ^-^ And if you guys like this one I will post another cheers guys.
