Having risen from kitchen starter to Head Chef in just ten years, French-born Alex Thiebaut has developed his culinary expertise in five-star fine dining restaurants across the world and now leads Michelin-starred restaurant at maze in Mayfair, part of the Gordon Ramsay Group.
Roasted duck breast, braised leg, romanesco, wild mushroom and lemon peppered.
Ingredients
- 1 whole duck
- 500g wild mushroom
- 2 Romanesco
- 500ml duck demie
- ½ bunch parsley
- 1 head garlic
- 2 Carrots
- 2 stick of celery
- 1 Spanish onion
- 50g butter
- 2 Lemons
- Thyme/bay leaf
- Salt
- Veg oil
Preparation
Clean and blow torch whole duck, take the duck legs off and the breast, trim and score the breast and keep nicely in fridge. Wash, peel and dice the mirrepoix . Prep the mushroom, then clean them 3 times in cold water, then keep them nicely on a dry cloth. Detail in small fleurette the romanesco and use trimmings to make the puree. Chop the parsley and garlic and keep them in a small container for service.
Method
Colour the duck legs with a bit of duck fat and salt in a nice braising pot. When the legs have nice gold coloured add the mirrepoix and sweat them off for few minutes, add the duck stock and cook slowly for 1h and 30min.Take the legs out the liquid, pass the liquid and reduce it down to a nice meat sauce consistency. Meanwhile debone the leg really carefully, keeping the natural shape of the leg and press them in between two flat trays in the fridge for 2h.
Portion the duck legs in nice rectangular shape and warm them up In half of the duck jus. Blanche the fleurette in salty boiling water and refresh in iced cold water. Pan fry the breast slowly on the skin side and finish with butter. Sauté the mushrooms with a bit of salt, add the romanesco , parsley, garlic, lemon zest and black pepper, then glaze it with the rest of the jus..
Carve the duck breast and start the plating up.
Tips
Go to your local butcher for duck stock instead of buying it at the grocery store. It will give you a much higher quality sauce in the end.