Five Spice Duck Breast with Vegetable Sticks

This is another recipe I tried from recipezaar, it was very good, although I added more ingredients for the glaze, as what is listed did not cover the bottom of my pan. You will notice, it is listed, to boil veg first, I didn't bother with this, I find the veg will cook fine, from start to finish in a wok, without being boiled first. Other than those small points it is a very tasty dish with a lovely aroma and wonderful flavours. If you enjoyed this recipe and would like to see other recipes by this chef click here.

Ingredients

2 ounces green beans, trimmed
1/2 ounces carrots, peeled
1/2 red pepper, seeded
1 zucchini, trimmed
2 ounces snow peas
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 small garlic clove, crushed
1 teaspoon fresh gingerroot, grated
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste


For the duck

2 (6 ounce) duck breasts, weighing 6oz each, with skin
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
1 tablespoon clear honey
2 tablespoons ketjap manis (sweet soy sauce)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 medium red chili, seeded and finely chopped


Method

1. Cut all the vegetables into to thin sticks, about the same size as the green beans. Drop the beans into a pan of boiling water and bring back to the boil.

2. Add the carrots and the red pepper and cook for 1 minute. Drain, rinse under cold water, and then dry on kitchen paper.

3. Lightly score the skin of each duck breast into a diamond pattern with the tip of a sharp knife, taking care that you don't cut through the meat.

4. Heat a dry frying pan until it is quite hot. Add the duck breasts, skin-side down, reduce the heat to medium and cook them for about three to four minutes until the skin is crisp and golden brown.

5. Turn the breasts over and cook them for another five minutes, or a little longer if you don't like your duck too pink. Meanwhile, mix together the five-spice powder, honey, sweet soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and chili.

6. Pour away all of the excess fat from the pan. Add the honey mixture and leave it to bubble away, turning the duck breasts now and then, until they are nicely glazed.

7. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wok or another frying pan, add the garlic, ginger and vegetables and stir-fry for one to two minutes until they are cooked but still crunchy. Season with some salt and pepper.

8. Pile the vegetable sticks into the centre of two warmed plates. Slice each duck breast on the diagonal and carefully sit it on top of the vegetables. Spoon over any remaining glaze and serve immediately.


All photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated.

Crispy Skinned Duck Magret with Asian sauce

I love Duck, I cook it often whether a whole duck or duck breast it has such a lovely flavour and duck meat is very low in fat. Ducks have thick fatty skin a lot more than chicken or other poultry but when crisped up although naughty, it is oh so yummy. I am very fortunate as I live in Geneva very close to the French border so I can get very cheap duck magret.

You can use any duck breast for this recipe as duck magret is more expensive. Duck magret is the breast of a duck that has produced foie gras, by being force-fed unnaturally large amounts of high energy foods (mostly corn) to produce the fatty liver used to create foie gras. This tends to make the duck breasts themselves quite large, so if you are not buying magret duck make sure the breast is of good size. Duck goes well with a lot of sauces, more traditional are fruity ones like orange, fig or grape. But you can use duck in curries and stews which are great. I have posted this recipe as it is one of my son's favourites but keep checking for other duck recipes.


Marinade

2 Duck Breasts
2 Tablespoons Soy sauce
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 Tablespoons honey
2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
11/2 Teaspoons fresh Ginger,grated
1/4 Teaspoon 5 Spice

Sauce

Reserved Marinade
2 Tablespoons hoisin (extra)
1 Tablespoon honey (extra)
1 Teaspoon cornflour


Method

1. Combine all marinade ingredients and add duck, marinate several hours or overnight.

2. Remove duck from marinade and prick skin all over, reserve marinade for later use.
Heat fry pan add duck skin side down and cook until browned and crisp (a lot of fat will escape from duck, drain fat from pan several times while cooking skin) remove duck and place on wire rack breast side down and cook in pre-heated oven 190c for
25 Min's. Let rest for 5 Min's after cooking.

3. While duck is cooking make the sauce. Add reserved marinade, extra honey and hoisin to a saucepan bring to boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Mix cornflour with a little water add to pan and stir until mixture thickens.


Serve duck with either rice timbales or vegetables and noodles I made both so you could see what it looks like.

Serves 2

Rice Timbale Recipe

1/2 Cup white rice
20g butter
3-4 mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
1/2 small red pepper, chopped fine
2 Teaspoons fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh chives, chopped

1. Boil some water in a pan, add rice and boil until tender.

2. Melt butter in a fry pan, add chopped mushrooms and pepper and cook until soft. Add chopped herbs and rice and stir until heated.

3. Butter the inside of two moulds and press rice mixture into them, leave them for 5 Min's before turning out. You can also make these ahead of time and just reheat in the microwave before serving.



Vegetable Noodle Recipe

Olive oil
1 Large carrot, chopped into strips
100g Snow peas, chopped
100g Egg noodles
1 Clove garlic, crushed
1 Teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
3 Teaspoons soy sauce
11/2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 Tablespoon of water


1. Cook noodles in a pan of boiling water until tender, drain and set aside.

2. Heat oil in a fry pan or wok add garlic and ginger stir fry for about 1 minute. Add carrots and cook for another minute, add sauces and water and cook for a couple of minutes more. Add snow peas and cook until vegetables are just tender.

3. Add noodles and stir until heated through.


Photo's taken by me unless otherwise stated