Recipe

Hawthorn Duckling - Breast Of Duckling With Hawthorn Berry Sauce And Barley-leek Pilaf - Recipe

Add Step-by-Step Photos	Alisdhair / All my dishes 1 year, 5 months ago Hawthorn berries can be cooked down in the same manner as cranberries but are a little more tart. I use duckling breasts here for elegance but you could roast a whole duckling and glaze it with the sauce. Prep:60m Cook:120m Servings:4	Alisdhair
	duck barley berry

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Ingredients

8 duckling breasts with the fatty skin attached

---HAWTHORN SAUCE---

STEP 1:

1 cup of fresh hawthorn berries*

1 1/2 cups of sweet red wine

3 1/2 cups of water

The peel of an orange in one curly piece

Half a cup of powdered sugar

STEP 2:

2 cups of rich duck stock

1 cup of demi-glace

4 tbls. of green peppercorns

Fresh rosemary, finely chopped

The resulting syrup from STEP 1

Salt

---BARLEY PILAF---

2 cups of Pearl barley (don’t dare use any type of ‘instant’ or ‘quick,’ its rubbish!)

2 enormous leeks

1 large sweet carrot

3-4 smaller and more tender ribs of celery

2 cups of beer or ale

4 cups of water or chicken stock

Fresh garlic, finely minced

Butter

1 – 1 ½ cups more stock

Salt and pepper

Directions

FOR THE HAWTHORN JELLY: Clean the berries well and be double sure that there are no stem parts mixed in with them. Heat the water and the wine in a sauce pan - Add the berries and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to all but a simmer. Add the orange peeling and the sugar. Simmer it for about half an hour.

Purée it (pull ot the orange peel first)and pass through a sieve. Return the sauce to a clean pan and reduce further until it becomes thick and syroplike.

FOR THE HAWTHORN SAUCE: Toss the peppercorns lightly in oil and roast them until they are brittle – This will take some of the fight from them.

Combine the stock, demi-glace and the berries into yet another sauce pan and reduce it until it is about 2 cups in volume.

Finish it with the peppercorns, rosemary and season it with salt.

FOR THE PILAF:

Put the beer and the water in to a pan and cook the barley at a slow simmer for 45 minutes to an hour until tender. Drain it and rinse it under cold water.

Have the leeks, carrots and celery cut into a medium sized dice, the leeks being a bit larger.

Heat ¼ lb. of butter in a sauté skillet and sauté the vegetables until the leeks start to brown. Add some garlic and cook a minute and then dump in the barley. Put in just enough stock to keep it moist so that the barley does not stick and cook 4-5 minutes until that stock has been absorbed.

Fluff it with some more butter and season it with the salt and pepper.

FOR THE DUCK: Remove the fatty skin from the duck breasts and flip it into an iron skillet with a little olive oil – Cook it until it withers up and the oils from the skin exude into the pan. Pull out the skins and sauté the duck breasts to the desired temperature (duck may be eaten med-rare).

TO SERVE:

Mould the pilaf in the centre of the plate and set two duck breasts crosswise against it. Spoon some of the sauce over the duck and decorate with some rosemary sprigs or if at all possible some hawthorn flowers.

If further desired serve some sautéed kale tossed lightly in olive oil and a very light hint of decent mustard.

* You may not be so fortunate to have a hawthorn tree in your backyard so you could very well obtain them dry or in the form of a pre-made jelly. If using dry ones add more water and cook them longer. If using a jelly go strait-a-way to STEP 2.

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Comments

mystic_river1 1 year, 5 months ago said:
While I was reading your recipe, I could smell the aromas floating around your kitchen. Thank you for sharing this very superb recipe and I will try it as soon as I can get fresh duck ( my favorite) You have my 5 forks and I hope you will answer my friend invitation. Joymarie

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