Peppercorn Crusted Muscovy Duck With Blueberries Recipes

Steps:

• For the Black Pepper-Sweet Mustard Sauce: Combine the mustards, honey, black pepper, thyme in a medium bowl and season with salt. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat a large ovenproof saute pan over high heat until smoking. Season each breast with salt and pepper to taste. Score the skin with a knife and sear the breast, skin-side down, until golden brown and fat has rendered, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove most of the fat, turn the breasts over and place them in the oven and cook for 10 to 12 minutes for medium rare doneness, remove duck and brush liberally with the mustard glaze. Let duck rest for 10 minutes, slice each breast on the bias.
• For the Soft Mascarpone Polenta: Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the leeks and cook until very soft, add the asparagus, season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Place water in a large saucepan with 2 tablespoons of salt and bring to a boil. Slowly whisk in the polenta, cook for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes with a wooden spoon.
• Remove polenta from heat, whisk in mascarpone, Manchego and leek/asparagus mixture, season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over low heat. Add the shallots and saute slowly, until soft. Add the dried cherries, molasses, pepper, and duck stock. Simmer 15 minutes.
• Blend the arrowroot with the 1/4 cup of the Madeira. Mix the Madeira into the duck sauce and simmer 3 to 4 minutes, until slightly thickened. Set aside. (The sauce may be made ahead, up to this point.)
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Season the duck cavity with the salt and pepper. Pierce the skin thoroughly around the lower breast, back, and thighs. Truss the duck and place, breast side up, on rack in shallow roasting pan. Place the duck in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and roast the duck 30 minutes per side. With a bulb baster, remove some of fat that accumulates as the duck roast. Turn the duck, breast side up, and sprinkle with salt. Roast 10 to 15 minutes longer for medium rare or until juices run rosy when a thigh is pierced with a fork. For well done, roast until juices run clear.
• Remove the trussing. Place the duck on a serving platter and keep warm in a turned off oven while finishing the sauce. (The duck may be roasted in the morning, if desired, and reheated at 300 degrees at this point.) Place under a broiler for 3 to 5 minutes for extra crisp skin.
• Remove all but 1 tablespoon fat from the roasting pan. Add the remaining 1/4 cup Madeira to the drippings in the pan. Boil rapidly, scraping the brown bits from the bottom and reducing the wine to 2 tablespoons. Strain the wine reduction into the prepared duck sauce. Finish the sauce with the sherry vinegar. Simmer 1 to 2 minutes and swirl in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees F/200 degrees C. Score the duck breast and render the fat in a saute pan. Pour off the fat, and transfer to the oven to finish, about 10 minutes. Remove the duck, and set aside to rest while you make the sauce.
• Deglaze the saute pan with the wine and cognac and reduce by half. Add the veal stock and peppercorns and reduce by half again. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter.
• Carve the duck breast. Spoon over the sauce and serve.

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter and sweat the onion, garlic and jalapeno for about 5 minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the port, and reduce 10 minutes to 1 tablespoonful. Add the red wine and reduce another 10 minutes to 1 tablespoonful. Add the stock and the grape juice concentrate and reduce by two-thirds. Add the grape juice and reduce by half. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve, return it to the saucepan, and reduce heat to low. Add the grapes, cook for 5 minutes, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat a large ovenproof saute pan over high heat until smoking. Season each breast with salt and pepper to taste. Score the skin with a knife and sear the breast, skin-side down, until golden brown and fat has rendered, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove most of the fat, turn the breasts over and place them in the oven and cook for 10 to12 minutes for medium rare doneness, remove duck and brush liberally with the Spicy Black Grape Sauce. Let duck rest for 10 minutes, slice each breast on the bias. Serve with Black Pepper Spoon Bread.;
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, bring the milk to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and stir in cornmeal. Cook, stirring until cornmeal begins to thicken and remove from the heat. Continue to stir mixture off heat for approximately 5 minutes or until it is warm, not hot. Add the egg yolks, buttermilk, butter, baking soda, salt and sugar. Combine well Beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold the egg whites, half of the Parmesan and the pepper into the batter. Butter a 12 by12-inch casserole dish. Pour the batter into the casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is golden and the spoonbread is soft. Cut into squares and serve hot.;

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 500 degrees F and arrange the oven rack in the center of the oven.
• Remove the innards of the duck and reserve them for another use, or discard. Remove any loose pockets of fat surrounding the cavity. Season the inside of the duck with salt.
• In a pot large enough to hold the duck, combine the water, 3/4 cup of the soy sauce and 1/3 cup of honey. Bring the mixture to a simmer over low heat. Add in the brine from the green peppercorns, lower the heat and submerge the duck, breast side down, into the pot. Let it simmer 30 seconds, basting the top side with the liquid. Remove the duck and arrange it, breast side down, in a roasting pan fitted with a rack that elevates it off the bottom of the pan. The rack will allow hot air to circulate around it as it cooks. (Cook's note: Ideally, the duck should sit overnight to allow the flavors to meld with the meat and for the skin to dry out. This will mean a crispier skin, once the duck is cooked.)
• Put the roasting pan into the oven and turn the temperature down to 400 degrees F. Allow about 15 minutes roasting time for each pound of duck. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, remove the pan from the oven, then flip the duck. Using a turkey baster, remove the excess fat from the bottom of the roasting pan and transfer it to a heatproof liquid measuring cup. Return the duck to the oven and cook for another 45 minutes to1 hour, depending upon the size of your duck.
• Meanwhile, in a medium pot, combine the champagne vinegar with the remaining 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup honey, Marsala and the reserved green peppercorns. Bring the ingredients to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and simmer gently, allowing the glaze to reduce and the flavors to blend. Taste for seasoning. Allow it to cook until all the flavors meld together.
• Remove the duck from the oven and baste it with the drippings in the bottom of the pan. The duck should register about 150 F when an instant-read thermometer is inserted into the thigh meat. Transfer it to a platter and pour half of the glaze over the breast and thigh meat. Reserve the remaining glaze for plating. Allow the bird to "rest" for about 15 minutes. Carve the duck and arrange on a serving platter. Season the flesh, with salt, if desired, and top with remaining glaze.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a small bowl mix together the salt, ground black pepper, thyme, and rosemary; set aside. This will be your spice blend for seasoning the roasted potatoes and the duck breasts.
• Place cubed potatoes into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of your spice blend over the top of the potatoes. Toss the potatoes in the pan until they are evenly coated with oil and seasonings. Spread into a single layer across the bottom of the baking dish and bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven.
• While the potatoes are roasting, stir together the blueberries, water, apple juice, sugar, and jalapeno in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low, and simmer until the mixture has reduced to the consistency of syrup, about 10 minutes.
• Cook the pancetta in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove the pancetta to drain on a paper towel, leaving the drippings in the skillet. Add the shallots and the mushrooms to the hot skillet; stir and cook them until soft and just beginning to brown. Remove the shallots and mushrooms and set aside. Increase heat to medium-high and place the bok choy in the hot skillet. Stir and cook the bok choy until the leaves are wilted and the white stalk pieces are tender, about 5 minutes. Return the shallots, mushrooms, and pancetta to the skillet, turn off the heat and set aside.
• Rinse the duck breast halves and pat dry. Rub the remaining spice blend onto both sides of the duck breasts. Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat, when the pan is hot put in the vegetable oil and butter. Immediately place the duck breasts in the pan, skin and fat side down. Do not move the duck breasts until the skin is deep brown, about 5 minutes. Turn the breasts and cook until the internal temperature of the thickest part is 160 degrees F (71 degrees C) for well done. Remove the duck from the pan and place on a plate, covered with foil to rest for 5 minutes. While the duck is resting, place the skillet with the bok choy mixture onto a burner over medium heat to warm through.
• Slice each duck breast diagonally into 1/2 inch strips. Divide the bok choy mixture among four plates and drizzle each serving with 1/2 tablespoon of aged balsamic vinegar. Arrange the sliced duck breasts on top of the bok choy mixture; ladle on blueberry sauce. Serve with oven-roasted potatoes on the side.

Steps:

• Prepare blueberry sauce: Peel, quarter and core apple. Place in a food processor with onion and finely chop. Place in a saucepan with blueberries, sugars, star anise, zests and vinegar.
• Place mixture over high heat to bring to a boil, then simmer until pulpy and beginning to thicken, about 30 minutes. (Mixture will be quite liquid after 20 minutes, but begins to thicken by 30 minutes, and will thicken more once cold.)
• If whole star anise were used, remove and discard them. Transfer sauce to a sterilized jar, cover and allow to cool. For best flavor, allow to rest one day before serving. (Makes 1 generous cup.)
• Prepare ducks: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place ducks on a rack in a roasting pan. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours, periodically draining off fat in pan. Raise heat to 400 degrees, and roast an additional 30 minutes to crisp skin.
• To serve, remove ducks from oven and place on a carving board. Cut each duck into four pieces. Cut away meat from rib cage, discarding rib bones. Arrange on a serving platter, crispy skin side up. Serve with blueberry sauce.

Steps:

• Make polenta:
• Preheat broiler and butter an 8-inch square baking pan.
• On a rack of a broiler pan broil corn about 4 inches from heat, turning it occasionally, until lightly browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Cool corn and cut kernels from cobs.
• In a large heavy saucepan stir together milk and cornmeal and add corn kernels and butter. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer, stirring constantly to keep mixture from sticking and burning and adding water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if mixture becomes too thick 20 minutes. Stir in cheese until incorporated and season with salt. Pour polenta into baking pan spreading evenly, and cool. Chill polenta until cold, 2 to 3 hours. Polenta may be made 2 days ahead and chilled covered.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Make mushrooms:
• If using fresh or dried shiitake discard stems. Slice mushrooms. In a 10-inch skillet heat butter over moderately high heat until foam subsides and sauté mushrooms and shallots with salt to taste until mushrooms begin to brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Add broth and boil until reduced by about half. Remove skillet from heat and add thyme, pepper, and salt to taste. Keep mushrooms warm.
• Unmold polenta onto a cutting board and cut into 16 triangles or 2-inch squares.
• On a lightly oiled baking sheet bake polenta pieces until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes, and broil about 4 inches from heat until golden, about 2 minutes.
• Arrange 2 polenta pieces on each of 8 plates. Spoon mushrooms over polenta and garnish with nuts.