Archive for month: July, 2019

Serves 4

ΝECTARINES,PUREE
30 g butter
½ shallot, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
8 apricots, pitted and quartered
60 g Chamomile Simple Syrup
Salt
Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until foamy but not browned. Add the
shallots and garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened without any color,
about 5 minutes. Add the nectarines to the pan and cook until tender, about 25 minutes.
Transfer the cooked mixture to a blender and puree on high until smooth. Turn to low
speed and blend in the chamomile syrup. Season with salt. Keep warm.

 

ROASTED DUCK BREASTS
4 duck breasts, each about 550 g
Salt
60 g butter
Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F. Trim and remove any silver skin or meat that overlaps
the fat side. Set aside and reserve for the Chamomile Jus. Pat the duck breasts dry with a
paper towel. Season both sides of each portion with salt.
Divide the duck breasts between two large sauté pans and place skin-side facing down.
Heat the pans over low heat to begin rendering. Periodically drain the fat from each pan as
the ducks render, reserving the rendered fat to finish the chamomile jus. When the skin has
fully rendered crispy and turned a deep golden brown, about 12 minutes, transfer the
breasts to a baking sheet lined with a wire rack, skin side facing down and place in the
oven to cook to medium, about 4 minutes. Remove the duck from the oven and let rest in a
warm place for at least 15 minutes before slicing to serve.

 

CHAMOMILE JUS
15 g grapeseed oil
About 150 g reserved trim from Roasted Duck Breasts
½ shallot, sliced
60 g dry white wine
240 g Chicken Jus
10 g dried chamomile
Salt
Reserved rendered fat from Roasted Duck Breasts
Heat the oil in a saucepan over high heat. Add the duck trim to the pan and sear until
deeply caramelized, about 4 minutes. Remove the trim from the pan and set aside. Drain
and discard the rendered fat from the pan. Turn the heat to medium and add the shallots to
the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the wine to the
pan and deglaze. Bring to a simmer and reduce until almost dry. Add the caramelized duck
trim and chicken jus to the pan. Heat to a simmer and turn the heat to low. Gently simmer
and reduce the sauce until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove the pan from
the heat and stir in the dried chamomile. Cover the pan and let steep at room temperature
for 7 minutes. Strain the sauce through cheesecloth and season with salt. Break the sauce
with the rendered duck fat and keep warm.

 

ROASTED NECTARINES
3 nectarines, halved and pitted
25 g olive oil
Salt
Confectioners’ sugar
Brown Butter, melted
Fleur de sel
Cracked black pepper
Preheat the oven to 135°C/275°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine the
nectarine halves, oil, and salt in a mixing bowl, tossing to evenly coat. Transfer the nectarines
to the baking sheet, cut sides down, and dust lightly with the confectioners’ sugar. Roast
the nectarines until tender, about 1/2 hour. Remove from the oven and cut two of the halves
into quarters. Brush the cut side of each nectarine with brown butter and season with fleur de
sel and cracked black pepper. Keep warm.

 

 

  AMARANTHUS
10 Amaranthus leaves
40 g butter
Salt
45 g Chicken Stock
Remove the stems from the amaranthus leaves and set the leaves aside. Trim the stems down to
10 cm (4 inches) in length. Using a mandoline, thinly slice the stems lengthwise and
immediately submerge in cold water. Set aside and reserve to garnish the plates. Cut the
cleaned leaves into 5-cm (2-inch) pieces. Heat the butter in a large sauté pan over medium
heat until foamy but not browned. Add the  leaves to the pan and stir occasionally
until evenly wilted, about 3 minutes. Season with salt. Add the chicken stock to the pan
and bring to a simmer. As the stock simmers and reduces, it will form a thick glaze. Be
careful not to overcook the leaves or reduce the glaze too far, as the emulsion will break
and make them greasy. Transfer the glazed amaranthus to a paper towel to drain any
excess glaze. Keep warm.

 

TO FINISH
Brown Butter, melted
Fleur de sel
Pickled Nectarines
White Balsamic Vinaigrette
Chamomile greens and flowers
Slice the duck breasts in half lengthwise. Brush the cut side of each portion with brown
butter and season with fleur de sel. Place both halves of each portion in the center of each
of four plates. Spoon the nectarine puree onto each plate next to the ducks. Divide the glazed
Amaranthus into one pile on each plate. Divide the roasted and pickled nectarines among the
plates, arranging them next to the duck. Drain the Amaranthus stem shaves from the ice
water and pat dry. In a bowl, dress the Amaranthus stem shaves with white balsamic
vinaigrette. Garnish each plate with the dressed Amaranthus stem shaves and chamomile
flowers and greens. Sauce each plate with the chamomile jus