Grilled duck breast, baked figs and vincotto
“Taste good, smell good, look good - figs add style and flavour to sweet and savoury dishes.”
- 4 duck breast fillets
- 3 tbsp vincotto*
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 4 ripe figs, unpeeled
- 2 tsp butter
- 2 tbsp white wine
- sea salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 12 shallots, peeled
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 cups light chicken stock (or water)
- 1 cup shelled peas
* available at The Essential Ingredient, Prahran, and selected delicatessens.
Vino cotto, or vincotto, used in the following recipe, means "cooked wine" and is made by concentrating grape juice and sharpening it with wine vinegar.
Method
Score the fat side of each duck breast diagonally in both directions, making
diamond shapes, at 2cm intervals.
Mix half of the vincotto with the oil and
rub well into the flesh side of the ducks. Place flesh-side down on a plate and
leave uncovered in the fridge for 2 hours, or overnight.
One hour before
dinner, heat oven to 180C. Cut a cross in each fig, insert a tiny piece of
butter and place the figs snugly in a small ovenproof dish. Drizzle with wine
and bake for about 30 minutes until soft.
Meanwhile, cook the shallots with
the butter and chicken stock in a covered saucepan until tender (about 15
minutes). Uncover the pan and watching carefully, raise the heat and shake the
pot until almost all of the stock has reduced and the shallots are lightly
glazed. Put to one side.
Heat a ridged grilling pan to maximum. Season the
duck breasts with pepper and grill breasts skin-side down for about 6 minutes.
Pour off the accumulated fat, turn over and grill the flesh side for 3 minutes.
Remove and rest skin-side up on a warm plate while cooking the peas.
Boil a
pot of lightly salted water, drop peas in, and simmer until tender (about 5
minutes). Drain and tip peas in with the shallots and reheat gently.
Slice
duck breasts thinly and place in centre of plates. Place a roasted fig
alongside. Tip any duck juices and fig juices into the peas/shallot pot, stir
and spoon the peas and juices around the ducks. Drizzle with the extra vincotto,
sprinkle with sea salt and serve immediately.
Serves 4.
