Pan-Roasted Duck Breast with...Pan-Roasted Duck Breast with Blackberry-Pasilla Mole

An elevated Mexican masterpiece featuring crispy duck breast, a rich blackberry and pasilla chile mole, smoked sweet potato purée, and delicate pickled chayote ribbons.

Ingredients

Cooking Instructions

1. 01

   Prepare the quick pickle: Place paper-thin chayote slices in a heatproof bowl. Bring vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp sugar to a boil, then pour over chayote. Set aside to cool.

2. 02

   Toast chiles: Gently toast dried pasilla and mulato chiles in a dry skillet over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant. Transfer to a bowl with warm duck stock; soak for 15 minutes to rehydrate.

3. 03

   Char aromatics: Dry-roast onion, garlic cloves, sesame seeds, and cinnamon stick in the skillet until nicely charred and fragrant. Peel the roasted garlic.

4. 04

   Make mole sauce: Puree rehydrated chiles, duck stock, charred aromatics, wild blackberries, and dark chocolate in a high-speed blender until silky smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh chinoise into a pan and simmer gently for 20 minutes until glossy and thickened. Season with sea salt.

5. 05

   Make camote purée: Scoop out roasted sweet potato flesh and blend with butter and a pinch of salt until velvety smooth. Keep warm.

6. 06

   Sear duck: Score duck breast skin in a tight crosshatch pattern. Season skin generously with sea salt. Place skin-side down in a cold cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Render fat slowly for 8-10 minutes until skin is ultra-crisp. Flip and cook 2-3 minutes for medium-rare (130°F/54°C). Rest meat for 5 minutes.

7. 07

   Assemble: Swoosh camote purée across warmed plates. Spoon blackberry-pasilla mole alongside. Thickly slice duck breasts and fan over the mole. Top with drained pickled chayote ribbons and garnish with epazote leaves.