After going through Jacob's recipe plus some others similar recipes online, I find making Duck Confit was rather complicated and time consuming for my standard as a home cook. So after much consideration, I think I better settle for something easier which I could managed and keep that big project aside for the time being.
CRISP DUCK WITH APPLE AND ORANGE SAUCE
This is a pretty easy dish with minimum preparation but comes with delicious combination of savory crisp duck, crunchy fresh apple plus salad greens swam in pool of aromatic spiced orange sauce. Personally I love the sweet and tangy taste of the orange sauce which really goes well with the whole combination and especially on the crisp duck.
Here I used half portion of the duck(which included the duck breast fillet and drumstick) instead of two duck fillets because I have left over from the previous dish on braised soya duck. If you are getting the duck from the wet market poultry stalls, you could also ask them to help you de-bone the fillet which would be easier for you.
(serves: 2 | Preparation: 30 minutes | Cooking: 25 minutes)
Ingredients:
2 Duck Fillets, skin on
1/2 Tablespoon Sea Salt
Dash of Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Red Delicious Apple, sliced thinly
2 Servings of Salad Greens
Method:-1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Place a wire rack over a foil-lined baking tray.
2. Make shallow incisions diagonally across skin of duck apart 1cm apart, rub sea salt into skin.
3. Place a non-stick frying pan on medium heat, add duck, skin-side down and cook for 8 minutes until skin is crispy.
4. Transfer to wire rack, skin-side up and bake for 12 - 15 minutes until tender. Remove from oven and stand on wire rack for 10 minutes before slicing it.
5. Using a vegetable slicer or knife, sliced the apple thinly and place it on the duck slices on prepared plates.
6. Drizzle some orange sauce on the apple and duck mixture, top with some salad greens and homemade rosemary and garlic flatbread on the side and serve warm with extra orange sauce.
Orange Sauce:2 Tablespoons Orange Marmalade
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
Zest of 1 Orange
125ml of Orange Juice
60ml Cup Water
2 Star AniseMethod:-1. Place orange marmalade, sugar, orange zest, orange juice, star anise and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved.
2. Simmer for 8 - 10 minutes, until sauce reduced and sightly thickened. Strain and serve warm.
ROSEMARY AND GARLIC FLATBREAD
A flatbread is a simple bread made with flour, water, salt and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened which is made without using yeast or sourdough culture similar to the recipe shown below. And in order to make the above crisp duck salad more filling, I decided to pair it with some homemade Rosemary and Garlic Flatbread which could be used to wrap up the crisp duck salad.
Recipe adapted and modify from Australia Masterchef website HERE.
(serves: 2 | Preparation: 30 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)
Ingredients:
125g Plain Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
2 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
65ml(1/4 cup) Lukewarm Water
1 Tablespoon Finely Chopped Fresh Rosemary
Extra Flour, dusting
2 Tablespoons Melted Butter
1. Combine olive oil and lukewarm water in a jug.
Method:-
2. Process flour, salt and rosemary in a food processor or alternatively place them in a large mixing bowl.
3. Slowly add olive oil and water mixture to the flour to form a dough.
4. Turn dough onto floured surface and knead until smooth. Rest dough for at least 30 minutes
5. Divide dough into 6 dough balls, roll out flat and fry(without oil) for 2 minutes each side or until golden.
6. Brush with melted butter. Keep warm and serve together with the Crisp Duck salad above.
Other than making your own flatbread from scratch you could also purchase those ready-made "Wraps/Tortilla " which are available in most leading supermarkets. I am sure you would like this dish as much as I do, and if duck fillets are not available in your area or liking you could always replace it with chicken fillets. And furthermore if you could get hold of kumquat marmalade I am it would add extra and unique flavour to this dish too. Enjoy!