Nantes duck

Stuffed with olives, shallots and herbes de Provence, served with tomato polenta and honey-glazed
lavender carrots

by Michael Hoffmann

To serve approx. 4 people

Stuffing for the duck

50gduck leg (deboned and skinned, finely chopped)
15gduck liver (finely chopped)
1 pieceshalotts
15mlveal stock
35gblack olives
5gsea salt
1 tbspolive oil (extra vergine)
1pinch ofthyme (chopped)
75mlcream

Step 1

Combine all the ingredients except for the cream, pass them through the mincer and chill. Then mince with the cream in the cutter to make a stuffing and freeze in the Pacojet cup. Transfer the stuffing to a piping bag.

Duck breast

2pieces duck breast

Step 2

Trim the duck breast, cut a pocket under the skin and fill this with the stuffing. Wrap each individual breast in cling film so that they keep their shape and then vacuum them. Cook sous vide at 54° C for about 60 minutes and leave to cool. Carefully score the skin and gently fry, skin side down, until it is crispy.

Duck legs

2tbsphoney
1tbspherbes de Provence
sea salt, pepper
2pieces duck legs
100mlduck lard, duck fat or clarified butter
100gonions (roughly chopped)

Step 3

Entenkeulen mit Honig, Kräuter der Provence, Meersalz und Pfeffer einreiben und 12 Stunden marinieren. ZwieRub the duck legs with honey, herbes de Provence, sea salt and pepper and leave to marinade for 12 hours. Lightly fry the onions in the duck lard. Place the duck legs, skin side up, on top of the onions and roast in the oven at approx. 110° C top heat and 120° C bottom heat to a soft confit. Once they are cooked, remove the bones and cut into two halves.

Jus blond

jus blondas a base
mirepoixonions, celery, carrots, tomatoes
aromaticsthyme, bay, rosemary
red wine, alged balsamico, olive oil (extra vergine)

Step 4

Fry the mirepoix and aromatics in foaming butter and deglaze with red wine. Pour in the duck jus, leave to steep, strain and add aged balsamic and olive oil to taste. Mix the olive oil into the sauce.

Braised carrots

120gcarrots (cut into 1 cm dice)
50gzucchini (cut into 1 cm dice with skin on)
50gcherry tomatoes (halved & patted dry)
2 pieces shalotts (finely diced)
1clove garlic (finely chopped)
3 tbspolive oil (extra vergine)
1 tbsp honey
1 pinch of saffron
sea salt, pepper

Step 5

Gently fry the carrots in olive oil. Add the honey, saffron and tomatoes and fry off until all the moisture has evaporated. Then add the shallots and garlic and cook until creamy.

Tomato polenta

180mlmilk
1 each stalksrosemary, thyme
1clove garlic (crushed)
55gpolenta/corn grits
3tbspbrowned butter
20gParmesan (finely grated)
3 tbspolive oil (extra vergine)
60gdried tomatoes (very finely chopped)
grated orange zest, sea salt

Step 6 

Bring the milk to the boil with the garlic, rosemary and thyme. Leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Then strain the milk and pour on to the polenta. Stir well and leave to swell for approx. 10 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan, browned butter, a little sea salt and olive oil. Add the tomatoes and orange zest to the polenta to taste and pour into a piping bag.

Garnish

  • fried sage leaves
  • purple potatoes, finely sliced and fried to a crisp
  • cherry tomatoes, quartered and dried
  • olives (stones removed), halved, dried and pickled

Assembly

Use a mould to shape the carrots and set the duck leg on top. Halve the duck breast lengthways. Serve the polenta using a piping bag. Arrange all the prepared garnishes in the polenta and pour a little sauce around the plate.