- Yield: 8 servings
Pan-Seared Duck Breast, Wild Mushroom Mille Feuille, Star Anise Jus de Canard
Recipe courtesy of Pedro Sanchez, CEC, CCA, WSETII, Executive Chef, BraeBurn Country Club (Houston, Texas)
Ingredients
- Ingredients for the duck:
- Muscovy duck breast - 8 ea.
- salt - to taste
- pepper - to taste
- Ingredients for the star anise jus de canard:
- duck bones/carcass - 5 lbs.
- yellow onions - 2 ea., medium, diced
- carrot - 1 ea., large, diced
- celery - 1/2 stalk, diced
- tomato paste - 3 Tbsps.
- sambuca liqueur - 1 cup
- thyme - 6 sprigs
- bay leaf - 3 ea.
- black peppercorns - 2 ozs.
- star anise - 4 ea.
- water - 2 gal.
- red wine - 2 cups
- unsalted butter - 4 Tbsps.
- Ingredients for the wild mushroom mille-feuille:
- wild mushrooms - 2 lbs., sliced
- yellow onion - 1 ea., diced
- garlic - 2 cloves, chopped
- whole milk - 2 cups
- unsalted butter - 3 Tbsps.
- all-purpose flour - 3 Tbsps.
- salt - to taste
- white pepper - to taste
- grated nutmeg - pinch
- puff pastry - 2 sheets, cooked and golden-brown
- porcini mushroom powder - 2 ozs.
Instructions
Procedure for the duck:
- Season the duck breast with salt and let it sit, uncovered, in the cooler overnight.
- Wipe off the excess salt and trim the excess skin then score the skin.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- On a cold cast iron pan, set the duck breast skin-side down and turn on the temperature to medium. Allow the fat to render and crisp up the skin, then turn up the heat to high and sear the meat side until golden-brown and medium-rare inside. Set aside and let it rest.
Procedure for the star anise jus de canard:
- Rub the tomato paste on the duck bones/carcass, along with the mirepoix, and roast in the oven until dark spots start to show.
- Deglaze the pan with the sambuca and add the contents to a pot. Add the water and the bouquet garni.
- Bring it to a boil and then let it simmer until the liquid has reduce by half.
- Strain the liquid transfer to another pot, add 2 cups of red wine, and let it reduce by ¾ until nappe consistency.
- Add butter and season with salt and pepper before service.
Procedure for the wild mushroom mille feuille:
- In a pot, saute 1 lb. of the wild mushrooms along with the garlic and diced onions on medium temperature until translucent. Transfer to a robot coupe and chop.
- In another pot, make the white roux. Slowly add the milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring to boil and then simmer for a few minutes; it should be thicker than a normal bechamel.
- Fold in the chopped mushrooms, transfer to a pan, and let it cool down. Once it's cooled down, get the mushroom bechamel in a piping bag.
- Saute the remaining pound of wild mushrooms in olive oil until crispy. Set aside.
- Cut the puff pastry into 24 pieces (4x1.5).
- On one layer of puff pastry, pipe the bechamel top with another layer of puff pastry, then pipe bechamel and garnish with sauteed mushrooms. Top with the third and final layer.
- Cover the mille-feuille in a hotel pan with aluminum foil and place in the oven at 300°F to retherm.
- Sprinkle the porcini mushroom powder on top right before service.
