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Local chef Andrew Brown brings us his take on a different recipe…
duck
au
poivoire
I’ve been working for a lovely family in Le Bugue, nestling in the Dordogne valley,
working for the chap who launched booking.com.
So I had the pleasure of perusing the
beautiful French markets in his Aston
Martin DBS. It’s a tough job but, hey,
someone has to do it!
Simple regional cooking is the order of
the day and the Dordogne is famed for
all things duck, especially foigras. Not to
everyone’s taste or budget.
However, duck breast is a treat and
affordable, so here’s my recipe for “duck
au poivoire”.
For four people, you’ll need:
• 4 duck breasts
• 250 ml double cream
• 75 ml Madeira
• One tblsp Lee and Perrins
• Two shallots chopped finely
• One 100g jar green
peppercorns drained
• One Knorr beef stock pot
(don’t tell anyone )
• 25g butter
• Salt and pepper
Here we go…
Pre heat your oven to 180 fan
assisted.
So in a small sauce pan fry
the shallots in the butter until
they begin to turn brown, pour
in the Lee and Perins and allow
it to bubble before adding the
Madeira.
Bring up to the boil and reduce
the liquid by half. Now without
being seen pop in the stock pot
and stir to dissolve.
Drain the peppercorns add
those and the cream. Simmer
for two minutes. If you like a hot
pepper sauce now is the time to
spice it up with a pinch or two of
cayene.
Trim the duck breasts and, with
a sharp knife, criss-cross the skin
and season it generously with
sea salt and freshly ground black
pepper.
Here is the secret to crispy skin;
lay the duck breasts skin side
down in a cold oven proof frying
pan.
Now put the pan on a low heat,
the fat will melt from the skin
slowly without burning and will
collect around the breasts.
This needs to be carefully
poured off and saved. Check the
colour of the skin regularly and,
when it is a lovely crispy, caramel
colour turn the breasts over and
pop them into the oven.
Duck is a fowl, not poultry, so
it’s perfectly safe to cook it rare
which will take six-eight minutes,
medium 10-12 minutes.
Well done duck breast is a
waste of time as it will be tough
and horrible. Whichever you
choose they must be rested for
the same length of time as they
were cooked.
Carve the breasts into three and
spoon over the sauce making
sure everyone gets plenty of
peppercorns.
I serve this with rosti potato
made with the duck fat and lovely
aldente green beans.