main · Cooking course

Ingredients

• Duck breast — 2 pcs
• Frozen cherries — 300 g
• Dry red wine — 200 ml
• Butter — 50 g
• Granny Smith apples or other green — 1 pc
• Cornstarch — 20 g
• Chicken stock — 200 ml
• Cinnamon sticks — 1 pc
• Garlic — 8 cloves (4 + 4)
• Anise — 6 pcs (3 + 3)
• Cloves — 2 pcs
• Black peppercorns — 5 pcs
• Nutmeg — 2 g
• Sugar — 50 g
• Thyme — 4 pcs
• Rosemary — 4 sprigs
• Vegetable oil — 100 ml
• Salt — to taste
• White pepper — to taste

Instructions

Cherry sauce

1. In a saucepan combine vegetable oil and butter, put on the heat. Add sugar and the coarsely chopped apple; stir and caramelise quickly. Add the cinnamon stick and star anise. Add half the garlic and half the cherries; stir. Add red wine and reduce the sauce by 20%. Only then add the chicken stock and reduce again.

Duck breasts

1. Score the skin in a fine cross-hatch, not all the way through. Lay the breast in a dish, skin up. Salt lightly, add half the star anise, drizzle a little oil, scatter garlic, thyme, and rosemary. Chill in the fridge.
2. Once the sauce has reduced, strain it; discard the solids. In a separate bowl whisk the cornstarch into cold wine. Stir into the sauce on the heat. Warm the sauce; add the remaining cherries.
3. Put a small pan on low heat and place the breasts skin-down on the dry pan. Slowly render the fat. Add aromatics to the pan. When the fat is rendered and the skin is bronzed, flip and sear 1–2 min on the other side. Optionally finish 3–4 min in a 180 °C oven. Lay on paper towel; rest 3 min.

Serving

1. Slice the breast 1 cm thick. Arrange in a line on one side of the plate.
2. On the other side, the cherries; drizzle sauce around the plate.