Passionate about the culinary arts, Capsicum Culinary Studio, our sponsor, shared a delicious, tender and melting in your mouth rich duck recipe with fresh, luscious flavours. A perfect celebration of Autumn.

Confit duck leg and smoked blade of duck breast, roasted figs and beetroot compote, garlic & parsnip puree with edible autumn leaves.

Serves 4

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 4 hours
 

Ingredients: Duck leg confit

4 Duck leg quarters

4 tsp Rock Salt

1 Star Anise

2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, crushed

2 cloves Garlic, crushed

5 sprigs Fresh Thyme

1 Orange, sliced

500 ml Rendered duck fat

Method:

• Combine the rock salt, star anise, Sichuan pepper garlic, thyme and orange and coat the duck legs in the mixture
• Place in a non-reactive container like a stainless steel or glass bowl and leave to cure overnight
• Once cured place in a roasting tray and cover with duck fat
• Cook in a 140°C oven for 4 hours. Meat should fall of the bone
• Let cool before shredding the meat
   

Ingredients: Smoked duck breast

4 Duck breasts

Apple wood chips for smoking

15 ml Soy Sauce

5 ml Mirin

15 ml Honey

1 clove Garlic, minced

5 g Fresh Ginger, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

Sunflower oil for pan frying

Method:

• Score the duck breast fat layer into a criss-cross pattern and place the duck breast in a container, cover with plastic wrap. Using a cold smoke gun inject smoke from the apple wood chips into the container until the duck breast is fully submerged in smoke. Seal the container and let it stand for 40 min – 60 min
• Mix the Soy sauce, Mirin, honey, garlic and ginger together and season with salt and pepper
• Once duck breast has been infused with the smoke place in the soy mixture and let marinade for another 30 min
• Place a large frying pan over a medium to low heat and place the duck breast skin down in the pan with a little bit of cooking oil. Slowly render out the fat until the skin is dark brown and crispy. 
• Remove the breast from the pan and turn the temperature onto high heat. Let the pan get hot before placing the duck breast flesh side down to seal and brown the duck breast. Cook until pink in the center
   

Ingredients: Fig and Beetroot Compote

100 g Mediterranean figs

100 g Baby beetroot

20 g Brown sugar

20 ml Honey

20 ml Balsamic vinegar

1 Orange (zested and juiced)

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Boil baby beetroot until tender in salted water, Let cool and peel the beetroot and cut into large cubes
• Place the beetroot and the figs into a roasting pan and drizzle with honey, Roast until soft and caramelised in a 180°C oven. About 15 min
• Place the fig and beetroot mixture along with roasting juices into a sauce pan and add the sugar, balsamic vinegar and orange zest and juice. Bring to a simmer and reduce until slight syrupy consistency is achieved
• Blend until smooth and season to taste
   

Ingredients: Garlic and Parsnip puree

200 g Parsnip, peeled and grated

3 cloves garlic, minced

50 g Butter

100 ml Cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Sweat the grated parsnip and garlic in butter until tender
• Add the cream and reduce until thick. 
• Season to taste and puree
   

Ingredients: Edible Autumn Leaves

4 sheets of rice paper

4 ml Sesame oil

5 ml Soy Sauce

5 ml Mirin

1 drop red gel food colouring

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Mix the Sesame oil, soy sauce, mirin and food colouring together
• With a pastry brush, brush over the rice paper unevenly to achieve different shades of colouring
• Let the rice paper dry before cutting into leaf shapes to be used as garnishing
   

Garnish
You can also use edible flowers like Nastartium, Pansy, Citrus blossoms, etc. for garnishing your dish before serving

ENJOY!