Duck with Wild Rice and Radishes

Adapted by StarChefs.com
November 2009
Yield: 8 Servings

INGREDIENTS:

Confit Duck Legs
1 bunch fresh parsley, roughly chopped
1½ cups salt
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic
4 duck legs
Rendered duck fat
Wild Rice
1 cup chopped bacon
1 cup chopped Vidalia onions
1 cup wild rice
5 cups chicken stock
Radishes
olive oil
1 pint Easter egg radishes, quartered
1 tablespoon acacia honey
1 tablespoon raspberry wine vinegar
½ cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon butter
Duck Breasts
4 air-dried duck breasts
2 tablespoons honey infused with orange zest and sage
To Assemble and Serve
½ cup chopped brandied cherries
½ cup chopped toasted hazelnuts
1 cup turnip puree

METHOD:

For the Confit Duck Legs:
Put the parsley, salt, pepper, onion, celery, shallot, and garlic in a blender; blend until smooth. Rub the mixture on the duck legs and refrigerate to cure overnight. On the day of service, heat the duck fat to 250°F. After curing, wipe the duck legs clean and cook them in the duck fat for about 4 hours or until tender. Pick the meat off the bone and reserve.

For the Wild Rice:
Render the bacon in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook until translucent. Add the rice and toast for 3 to 5 minutes. Cover with the chicken stock and simmer for 1½ hours or until the rice is tender.

For the Radishes:
Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and add the radishes. Add the honey and cook until lightly caramelized. Deglaze with the raspberry wine vinegar. Add the stock and butter. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook until the mixture is the consistency of a glaze.

For the Duck Breast:
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Score the skin of the duck breasts. Put the breasts in a pan, skin side down, and render the fat over medium low heat. Pour out the fat and reserve. Put the duck breasts, flesh side down, back in the pan and roast in the oven for roughly 7 minutes. Remove the duck from the pan and pour out the additional fat. Put the honey in the pan and return the duck, skin side down, to cook until glazed, about 1 minute. Let the duck rest for 5 minutes. Slice each breast into 6 thick or 8 thin slices.

To Assemble and Serve:
Heat the wild rice and add the chopped cherries and hazelnuts. In a separate pot, heat the radishes, adding the butter and stock and reducing to a glaze. Spread turnip puree across the plate. Place a large spoonful of wild rice to the plate and a pile of the heated duck confit. Add the radishes and slices of duck breast. Drizzle with the pan juices from the duck breast. radishes. Layer 3 to 4 slices of warm duck breast over the confit. Sauce over and

*We tasted this dish while Chef Bailey was at Allen & Delancey – New York, NY