This restaurant-worthy duck recipe is guaranteed to impress your dinner guests.
The prunes add a melting sweetness.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 4
8 dried Agen prunes
4 duck breasts
150g carrots, roughly chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
3 shallots, roughly chopped
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
600ml red wine
3 cloves
Large sprig of thyme
2 bay leaves
15g plain chocolate
Salt & freshly ground pepper
METHOD
Put the prunes into a bowl and cover with cold water. Leave to soak for 1-2 hours.
Season the duck breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large, heavy based frying pan over a high heat. Add the duck breasts, skin side down, lower the heat slightly and fry for 2 minutes until the skin is nicely browned. Turn over and brown them on the other side for 2 minutes, then lift onto a plate and set aside.
Add the carrots, onions, shallots and garlic to the duck fat left in the pan and fry over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and golden brown. Add the wine, bring to a rapid boil, then light with a match and shake the pan for a few seconds until the flames have died down. This burns off the alcohol. Then lower the heat, add the cloves, thyme and bay leaves, and leave the sauce to simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Return the duck breasts to the pan, skin side down, cover and simmer for 2 minutes. Turn the duck breasts over, recover and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. This will give you duck that is still pink in the middle, if you prefer it better cooked, cook for up to 1 minute more on each side.
Lift the duck out of the sauce onto a plate, cover with foil and leave it to rest in a low oven (about 100c) while you finish the sauce. Add the chocolate to the sauce and simmer for 2-3 minutes more. Then pass through a fine sieve into a small pan, pressing out as much liquid as you can with the back of a ladle. Drain the prunes, add them to the pan, and simmer over a medium heat until they have heated through and the sauce is nicely reduced and well flavoured. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
To serve, lift the duck onto a board and carve, on the diagonal, into long thin slices. Lift each onto a plate and spoon 2 of the prunes alongside. Spoon some of the sauce over and around the duck and serve with sauteed potatoes or mash.
Original recipe Rick Stein French Odyssey
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