Get:- 4 duck breasts (1.2lbs, frozen, sadly, is all Whole Foods has)
- Red wine for deglazing
- 1 cup forbidden rice
- Brine:
- 3 cups filtered water
- 5 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp peppercorns
- dash ground black pepper
- dash rosemary
- dash candied ginger
- dash onion powder
- dash garlic powder
- dash fennel seeds
- dash celery seeds
- Carrots:
- 1 bunch baby carrots (from whole foods, not all that small really)
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- thyme
- sage
- shallot
- Peas:
- snap peas
- lemon juice
- salt
- pepper
- green onion
Alternate: overnight brine: - 3 cups filtered water
- 3 tbsp coarse kosher salt (1/16 ratio)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp coarsely crushed peppercorns
- dash ground black pepper
- dash rosemary
- dash candied ginger
- dash onion powder
- dash garlic powder
- dash fennel seeds
- dash celery seeds
- prepare brine by mixing brine ingredients in a sauce pan until salt is dissolved.
- cool brine to warm-but-not-hot-to-the-touch by refrigerating, or else adding ice cubes
- place breasts in brine for 12+ hours, turning once, in the refrigerator
- rinse before use
Prep: - thaw the duck by running package under warm water for ~10 mins. if needed, can use a warm brine so the duck finishes defrosting as it brines. Once the breasts come apart, they should thaw the rest of the way in the brine.
- prepare brine by mixing brine ingredients in a sauce pan until salt is dissolved.
- cool brine to warm-but-not-hot-to-the-touch by refrigerating, or else adding ice cubes
- place breasts in brine for 2 hours, turning once, in the refrigerator
- remove from brine and rinse the brine off the breasts, then return to fridge until ready to cook
- cut green off of carrots, leaving 1cm of stem
- wash carrots very thoroughly, including stems, since they are muddy
- pat carrots dry, toss into foil-lined baking dish with olive oil and herbs (salt, pepper, sage, thyme, etc)
- peel the fucking strings off of the fucking snap peas
- rinse the snap peas
- chop green onion and set aside
- rinse the rice in cold water
Cook: - T-60: preheat oven to 400F
- T-50: set out duck breasts, pat dry, score fat with sharp knife (1cm cross-cross) but do not cut meat
- T-50: combine rice with filtered water, 2:3 ratio. bring to boil
- T-47: when rice is boiling, cover and reduce heat to low
- T-45: place carrots in oven on middle or bottom rack, roast for 45 mins
- T-30: place duck in skillet over medium-low heat ("4") to render some of the fat, about 15 mins
- T-16: heat olive oil in pan for the snap peas on medium-high ("7")
- T-16: turn breasts over and sear for 1 minute
- T-15: roast duck breasts in pan in oven, fat side down, for 7 minutes, until medium rare
- T-13: place snap peas in pan with salt and pepper, saute for 5 minutes
- T-11: add green onions and saute until tender, about 10 more minutes
- T-5: remove duck and carrots from oven and allow to rest a few minutes
- T-2: slice duck into thin slices
- T-0: plate and serve
Results: - Duck was very tender, on the medium side of medium-rare. Definitely not bloody or steak-y.
- Duck was a touch too salty. I tried 3 tbsp of salt per cup of water for the brine for two hours, but that was in retrospect too much. I also didn't use any acid, so I'm going to try that this time (directions already adjusted above)
- Forbidden rice was a little crunchy and undercooked, and there was water left over in the bottom of the pan even after 40 minutes. I left it on "melt" on the burner but should leave on higher heat next time, like "low".
- Deglazing was a complete failure. The red wine simply burned into particles, and did not leave a red, syrupy sauce as I expected. It has to be that the heat was way too high, although it could also have been that I used too much fat.
I use 1/16 ratio of coarse salt to water, by volume Or 1/32 if using table salt And brine infinitely long I also add citric acid or lemon To help tenderize Ad sugar for flavor Use like, one lemon per bird Or 1tbsp citric acid And maybe 1/32 in sugar volume yo water
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