Smoked duck breast with a cognac and kumquat marmalade
Smoked duck breast, cognac and kumquat marmalade, lime infused fennel, burnt lime gel, cognac jus, duck kushi glazed with kumquat, wrapped in duck skin and rolled in a rosemary and lime crumb. As part of the Westminster Kingsway College duck cookery competition. Recipe courtesy of Elliot Tyler.
Ingredients
- Half Duck
- Duck neck and giblets (neck if possible)
- 5 kumquat
- 2 limes
- 4 lemons
- 1 spring rosemary
- Flakey Sea salt
- 1 garlic bulb
- 400ml cognac
- 110g caster sugar
- 1 fennel
- 100ml kumquat juice (from kumquats)
- 1g agar agar
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot
- 1 stick of celery
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 pepper corns
- 20g plain flour
- 15g butter
- bronze fennel
- lemon balm
Method
- For the gravy, prepare all mirepoix, carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves, pepper corns, giblets and bons if accessible, add to a pan and colour them until almost charred, add the congac and allow to reduce to almost a syrup, top up with stock and allow to boil for about an hour until thickened. Once thickened strain through a chinois, monter the butter in if at a good consistency then season.
- For the kumquat marmalade, remove the rind from the kumquats then open and squeeze the juice from them all into the same pan, as well as the squeezed cumquat shells. Add your sugar, water and cognac then allow to reduce to a jam thickness, strain and add seasoning if needed.
- For the burnt lime gel, cut the limes in segments then grill them until blackened, remove the flesh and zest then add to a pan with the sugar with some lemon juice also, boil and reduce down, once ready strain and add to another pan, now add the agar agar and whisk in, pour onto a tray and cool it down, once cooled blend thoroughly until smooth, lay it back on a tray and vac pack to remove all air bubbles.
- For the fennel, vac-pack with lime juice, garlic, salt and a bit of oil. Sous vide this for about 30 minutes at 85 degrees celcius or until tender. Once tender remove from vac pack and dry on a tray with a j-cloth, when serving sear off in a pan, season and finish with the burnt lime gel drizzled on top.
- For smoking the duck, remove duck breast from the half duck, dry out and hang in smoker for about an hour on a cold smoke, once done remove from the smoker, season and sear off for service cooking to medium rare, baste with garlic and rosemary.
- For the lime and rosemary crumb, toast off some rosemary in the oven, remove and blend together with the lime zest and salt.
- For the duck kushi, remove the skin from the duck leg, de bone and open the leg. Dice the leg into 3x3cm squares then layer on top of each other onto a skewer, glaze with cumquat then score the duck skin, wrap around the skewer and secure the skin. Sear the skewer off on a low-medium heat to get a golden colour, place into the oven to cook through, once cooked remove from the oven and roll in the rosemary and lime crumb.
- For the kumquat glaze, squeeze the juice of a singular kumquat and reduce right down to a syrup.