Recipe: Roasted Duck, Cherry Gastrique, Carrot Puree, Romanesco

I LIKE DUCK. I like the old skool Nintendo game Duck Hunt. I found it hilarious when Patrick Bateman ordered duck at Barcadia when he was pretending it was Dorsia to impress Courtney Rawlinson. I like Duck Tales, awoohooo. Aaannnddd...[confession] I think D2: The Mighty Ducks is a rad movie. Knuckle puck, yo. This calls for one thing: Why not learn how to cook those little quackers into something delicious.

The GC Bateman Duck La Dorsia III

Lemon+rosemary roasted crisp skin duck breast w/ carrot puree, garlic+thyme roasted romanesco & baby greens salad w/ citrus+shallot vinaigrette & cherry+balsamic gastrique

Ingredients: 

• Skin-on duck breasts
• Handful of rosemary sprigs
• 4 lemons [3 juiced]
• Bundle of carrots
• Chicken stock [3 cups]
• Heavy cream [1 cup]
• Romanesco [1 head of this rad broccoli/cauliflower hybrid cut into florets]
• 4 garlic cloves [minced]
• A few sprigs of thyme
• Mixed baby greens [baby chard/arugula/mache/dill/etc will do just fine]
• 1 small shallot [minced]
• 1 orange [juiced & 1tsp zest]
• White wine vinegar
• Dijon mustard [1tsp]
• Mint [1tbs chopped]
• Handful of cherries [pitted]
• Cherry preserves [2tbs]
• Balsamic vinegar
• Brown sugar [1tbs]
• Oregano [1tsp chopped]
• Olive oil
• Butter
• Sea salt
• Fresh cracked pepper
• A morning of 1,000 stomach crunches+water activated gel cleansers & an afternoon matinee of Les Mis.

[Serves 2]

Crisp Skin Duck Breast: Score the duck skin in a Kriss Kross pattern. Don't be clumsy & pierce the flesh/meat part though, it'd be a shame. Scoring will help render out the duck fat...that you should totally save & roast or fry some taters in later [duck fat fries!]. Season breasts liberally, especially into the scores. Mad crispy skin is the result. On med-low heat in a DRY pan, lay the breasts skin side down.The fat will render out & it will smell ridiculously good. After 5min & most of the fat has rendered out, fire up the heat to med-hi. Sear for 6-7min for that golden crisp skin. Transfer breasts to a baking dish that's already been pre-heating in the oven skin side up & add sliced lemons, rosemary, butter, orange juice. Roast in oven at 400d 10min. Let it rest 9-10min before slicing so juices wont drain out & turn it into a dry rubber ducky. Slice breasts into 3/4 inch thick pieces. Breast[s] appeared in this paragraph 5 times.

Carrot Puree: Peel & chop carrots into 1 inch thick or so pieces. Boil in chicken stock for 15-20min til tender. While waiting, keep an eye on your duck, your roasting romanesco & reducing cherry gastrique [recipes, next few paragraphs], sip some wine & listen to the comedy of Patrick Bateman's daily morning routine. Use a slotted spoon & transfer the carrots to a food processor. Add a little of the chicken stock you boiled the carrots in, a nub of butter, a little heavy cream, minced garlic, s&p. Blitz. Keep adding stock/butter/cream in little increments & keep blitzing until you get the creamy consistency you want.

Citrus+Shallot Vinaigrette: Combine 1 part lemon juice/orange juice+zest/white wine vinegar w/ minced shallot, minced garlic, dijon, chopped mint, s&p & whisk in 2 parts extra virgin olive oil.

Roasted Romanesco & Baby Greens Salad: Blanch then dry the romanesco. Toss w/ olive oil, minced garlic, minced shallot, thyme, s&p. Roast at 400d 15min. Done. Let cool then toss w/ baby greens mix & dress w/ the vinaigrette from recipe ^above^. Add fresh cracked pepper.

Cherry+Balsamic Gastrique: Saute cherries w/ butter & brown sugar on med heat til it caramelizes, 5-7min while stirring w/ your trusty wooden spoon. Add balsamic, white wine vinegar, cherry preserves, chopped oregano & mint, lemon juice, s&p. Switch to your trusty whisk & combine the stuff. When it begins to boil, let it reduce a bit then take off the heat & strain thru a sieve. It'll thicken as it cools. A candy glaze for your duck...grub.

Plating: Spoon down the carrot puree on the plate. Arrange the vinaigrette dressed romanesco+baby greens salad on the side. Pile up the crisp skin duck. Fresh squeeze of lemon. Drip & swirl the gastrique 1980s yuppie style. Serve.

No need for an 8:30 res at Dorsia. End apartheid. I have to go return some videotapes.

#CookOrDie

Soundtrack: "Track 1" -  Official American Psycho Score composed by John Cale