Roast duck breast with asparagus, caramelised shallot and hispi cabbage

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This roast duck breast recipe from Adam Gray is given a touch of Spring by the inclusion of asparagus and hispi cabbage. You can serve the duck with or without the mashed potato in the image, depending on how hungry you are.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Roast duck breast

Duck sauce

Hispi cabbage and shallots

Seared asparagus

Method

1
Heat a small amount of rapeseed oil in a thick bottomed saucepan over a medium heat. Fry the sliced onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaf until golden brown
2
Continue to fry for 2-3 minutes. Then, add the bitter and bring to the boil, cook until reduced by 3/4
  • 300ml of bitter
3
Add the brown chicken stock, bring to a simmer and reduce again by half. Strain through a fine chinoise. Whisk in the butter and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside until required
  • 500ml of chicken stock
  • 50g of butter
4
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Lower in the shredded cabbage and cook until tender - about 3 minutes, strain and set aside
5
Place a thick bottomed saucepan over a medium heat and add the butter. As soon as it begins to foam, add the sliced shallots and sweat in the butter before adding the hot blanched cabbage. Cook for a further 5 minutes and season to taste with salt and pepper
6
Blanch the asparagus in boiling water for 3 minutes until tender, strain and plunge into ice water to refresh. Cut each spear in half lengthways and pan-fry in a little butter until a light golden brown colour. Season with salt and keep in a warm place
7
To cook the duck, preheat the oven to 220˚C/gas mark 7. Gently score the skin with a sharp knife. Season the duck breasts with salt and pepper and heat 1 tbsp of rapeseed oil in a roasting tray or ovenproof pan on top of the stove
8
Place the breasts, skin-side down, in the tray and fry over a medium heat for 8-10 minutes, allowing the skin to release fat while turning golden brown. Turn and finish cooking in the oven for 7-8 minutes. Remove from the tray and leave to rest in a warm place for 4 minutes
9
Slice the duck breast and serve with the warm asparagus, hot cabbage and hot duck sauce
First published in 2015

Adam Gray pulls off classic British flavours with grace, intelligence and admirable lightness of touch.

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