IAN-ROASTED DUCK
with Yams, Rum, and Oranges
This preparation of duck has a Caribbean tone-French Caribbean, to be more specific. At our restaurant, we would probably pan-roast the duck's leg and thigh but grill the breast. This may not be easy to do in most homes, so the recipe gives the method for pan-roasting the whole duck. You'll note that the legs and thighs are put in the oven ahead of the breast; this is so the breast is not overcooked. Save the duck bones to make stock later, but use duck stock you've made previously for this recipe.
Serves 4
2 whole ducks, butchered into four separate boneless breasts and thigh and leg portions, thigh bone removed 1 or 2 yams
SAUCE
v2 tablespoon olive oil
2 shallots, peeled and sliced thinly
1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded, and
sliced
1 bay leaf
% cup sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons peanut oil
Salt and pepper
Ч4 cup Myers's dark rum
Ч2 cup Essensia wine (an Orange Muscat wine available through the Andrew Quady Winery, Madera, California) or a Sauternes
1 cup fresh orange juice
2 cups Duck Stock (page 242)
IV2 cups excellent orange marmalade
2 oranges, cut into sections, all skin, pith, and seeds removed, for garnish
1. Cut up the ducks and set aside.
2. Bring a pot of water to boil, lower the heat, and gently simmer the yams until you can pierce them fairly easily with a knife. Drain and set aside.
3. Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the sliced shallots and jalapeno pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the bay leaf. Now add the vinegar, Essensia, and orange juice and reduce by half. Add the duck stock and reduce to half a cup. (This will take about 45 minutes.)
4. Strain the sauce into a clean saucepan and reheat to a simmer. Add the orange marmalade and cook until thickened slightly. Remove from heat and reserve.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel the yams and cut into fairly thick wedges. Reserve.
6. Heat peanut oil in a heavy saute pan. Season the ducks with salt and pepper. Put the duck leg and thigh portions, skin side down, in the pan and saute until the skin begins to get crisp and brown. Turn once and then back again. Discard excess fat as necessary. Cook 4 or 5 minutes in this way over medium heat. Discard fat and remove the legs and thighs to a plate.
7. Score the duck breasts' skin in a cross-hatch fashion with four or five slashes in each direction. Add the breasts to the pan, skin side down, and cook over medium heat for
5 to 6 minutes. Remove the breasts from the pan and put them on a plate. Return the legs and thighs to the pan and put them in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Discard excess fat; now add the breasts to the pan, skin side up, and roast until the breasts are medium rare-approximately 5 to 8 minutes.
8. Take the duck pieces out of the oven, and remove them to a platter. Wipe out the pan and add the rum. Carefully deglaze the pan, bum off the alcohol, and add enough of the sauce to baste the ducks.
9. Put the legs and thighs back in the pan and return to oven. Keep breasts warm. Baste the legs for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the yam wedges to the pan, but do not put the pan back in the oven.
10. Arrange the duck legs on 4 warm plates and put the breasts on a cutting board. Slice the breasts on a bias. (They should have a trace of pink in the center.)
11. Heat the sauce over a medium-high flame for a moment, then pour it over the leg portions. Arrange the yam wedges around the legs and then arrange the sliced breast around the yams. Add the orange sections, season liberally with freshly cracked black pepper, and serve.
The sweetness of the yams and rum and the acidic fruitiness of the oranges in this dish suggests a supple, forward California Merlot. If you prefer a white, a Mosel Riesling would work nicely.