Magret de Canard Rôti,...Magret de Canard Rôti, Mousseline de Topinambour et Gastrique à la Lavande

Pan-roasted dry-aged duck breast with ultra-crisp skin, paired with a velvety brown-butter sunchoke mousseline, pan-glazed golden chanterelles, and an aromatic lavender-honey blackberry gastrique.

Ingredients

Cooking Instructions

1. 01

   Place sliced sunchokes in a heavy saucepan, submerge with heavy cream, 100ml water, and a pinch of salt. Simmer over medium-low heat until completely tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, reserving cooking liquid.

2. 02

   In a small skillet, melt 30g of butter over medium heat until nutty brown (beurre noisette). Transfer cooked sunchokes to a high-speed blender with the brown butter and 2-3 tablespoons of warm poaching liquid. Purée until silkily smooth, pass through a fine tamis sieve, season to taste, and keep warm.

3. 03

   Season the duck breasts generously with fine sea salt. Place skin-side down in a cold, dry carbon-steel or cast-iron skillet. Set heat to low-medium and render fat slowly for 12-14 minutes, continuously basting out liquid fat until the skin is deep golden and paper-crisp.

4. 04

   Flip duck breasts to flesh side, add 2 thyme sprigs, and cook for 2-3 minutes until internal temperature reaches 52°C (125°F) for medium-rare. Transfer breasts to a warm resting rack skin-side up for 8 minutes.

5. 05

   While duck rests, discard excess fat from the pan. Add honey and lavender buds to the pan over medium heat until caramelized and foaming (about 1 minute). Deglaze with sherry vinegar, reducing by half.

6. 06

   Pour in duck demi-glace, simmer until it coats the back of a spoon (nappe consistency). Strain through a fine chinois to remove lavender, return to low heat, swirl in blackberries and 15g cold butter, and season with salt and pepper.

7. 07

   In a separate sauté pan, melt remaining 15g butter with shallot and remaining thyme. Add chanterelles and sauté on high heat for 3-4 minutes until edges are caramelized and tender.

8. 08

   Carve rested duck breasts into thick, elegant slices against the grain. Plate a swoosh of warm sunchoke mousseline, arrange duck slices alongside, scatter glazed chanterelles, and drizzle with glossy lavender-honey gastrique. Finish with flakes of Maldon sea salt.