FOOD + DRINK
ROAST WITH
THE MOSTRECIPES
Wild Mallard Wellington
Recipe by : The Ferry House www . theferryhouse . co . uk
Serves : 4 Ingredients :
• 4 large or 8 small skinless wild mallard duck breast
• 1 batch duck sausage meat ( can be substituted with butcher ’ s sausage meat )
• 4 herb crepes
• 1 batch puff pastry
• 4 large leaves of chard / beetroot / cabbage
• 4 slices lardo or cured ham such as prosciutto
• 1 egg for egg wash
• 150g skinless mallard duck breast
• 67g pork back fat
• 4g salt
• 5g fresh sage , finely sliced
• 5g garlic , finely sliced
• 15ml red wine
Herb crepes :
• 1 egg
• 140g milk
• 70g plain flour
• 5g mixed soft herbs , stalks removed , finely sliced
Method :
Wild mallard sausage meat : 1 . Dice the duck breast and pork fat into inch square pieces , mix with the salt , sage and garlic , lay spaced out on a flat tray and place in the freezer for an hour .
2 . Remove the part-frozen meat and feed into a meat mincer , with a coarse plate attached .
3 . Alternatively , working in batches , you can gently pulse the diced meat in a food processor , being careful not to overwork the mix into paste . Placing the bowl and blade of the food processor in the freezer at the same time as the meat will help retain a minced-like texture .
4 . Allow to sit overnight . The next day , place in a mixing bowl along with the red wine and mix thoroughly until combined , then place in the fridge .
Herb crepes : 1 . In a mixing bowl , whisk the egg , milk and herbs thoroughly .
2 . Sift the flour into the bowl and whisk to combine .
3 . Heat a cast iron pan with a small amount of oil .
4 . Once hot , cover the base of the pan with a thin layer of mix , rotating the pan as you go to ensure even coverage .
5 . Flip once , then remove from the pan and set aside . Repeat with the remaining mix
Chard / beetroot / cabbage : 1 . With a small knife , remove the stems from the leaves . Blanch the leaves in boiling water , remove with a slotted spoon and allow to drain and cool on the side .
Assembly :
1 . Cut two sheets of baking parchment roughly A4 sized .
2 . Divide the sausage meat into four even balls , brush a small amount of oil onto one side of each piece of parchment .
3 . Sandwich one of the sausage meatballs between the two parchment sheets – having the oiled faces touching the meat allows you to roll the meat thin without it sticking to the parchment .
4 . Using a rolling pin , roll the sausage meat out to an even 5 mm thick round patty , then remove the top layer of parchment .
5 . Tuck the ends of the duck breast in on themselves to form a slight ball shape and use a slice of your cured ham or lardo to wrap the duck breast , having the middle of the ham cover the ‘ join ’ of your balled duck breast to hold it in place .
6 . Place the ham wrapped breast into the centre of sausage meat so that the ‘ join ’ is facing down into the sausage .
7 . Gently start to lift the egdes of the parchment from the sides towards the middle , working your hands under the parchment as you lift until your little fingers are cupping the duck breast . Start to bring your thumbs up and over towards each other , applying pressure gently as you go so the sausage meat encases the duck breast entirely in a rough sphere .
8 . Gently remove the sheet of parchment .
9 . Wrap the sausage-entombed-duck breast in your steamed chard / cabbage leaf , again with the centre of the leaf touching the seam of the sausage meat and set aside .
10 . Roll your puff pastry out to 3 mm thick . Cut two disks out using a saucer or a ring cutter – one approximately five inches diameter and another approximately six inches around .
11 . Lay the cabbage-wrapped meat in the centre of the smallest pastry disk and brush the rim of the pastry with some of the egg wash . Drape the larger disk over the meat , pushing down where the pastry overlaps to form a seal . Trim gently with a small knife and / or a five inch ring cutter to neaten the pastry .
12 . Repeat this three more times .
13 . Egg wash the top layer . You can use a toothpick to gently score the pastry or use any excess pastry to garnish the Wellington for decoration if desired .
14 . Bake in a preheated fan oven at 195 ° C for 20 minutes . Allow to rest for 10 minutes before carving .
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