Roast Duck Breast, Mushroom Tortellini, Lapsang Souchong

Graham Garrett

Graham Garrett

19th January 2016
Graham Garrett

Roast Duck Breast, Mushroom Tortellini, Lapsang Souchong

Duck is very versatile and is enjoyed for its rich, tender meat which is usually roasted or part roasted in the oven to help crisp up the skin. Why not give the following roast duck breast, mushroom tortellini and lapsang souchong recipe a try? I wanted to do a duck dish, thinking of Chinese tea. I thought Lapsang would go, with its smoky, peaty quality, reminiscent of whisky barrels. Maple has some of those qualities, and mushrooms echo the earthiness. serves 6

Ingredients

  • 6 duck breasts, roughly 200g each
  • maple syrup
  • fine sea salt and white pepper
  • a small handful of radish cress
  • for the tortellini
  • 5 free range egg yolks
  • 1 whole free range egg
  • 300g 00 flour
  • 100g wild mushrooms
  • a knob of butter
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • sea salt and white pepper
  • 100g chicken breast
  • 4 leaves of tarragon
  • 100g whipping cream
  • for the pickled turnips
  • 2 large white turnips
  • 100ml Moscatel vinegar
  • 50ml dry white wine
  • 50ml water
  • 50g golden caster sugar
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 sprig of thyme
  • 5g fine sea salt
  • for the duck tea
  • trim and fillets from the duck breasts
  • mushroom trimmings
  • 2 banana shallots, peeled and finely diced
  • 500ml water
  • 20g soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Lapsang Souchong tea leaves

Method

To prepare the duck breasts, remove the small fillets from each breast along with any sinews and all silver skin, reserve. Score the fat side into a diamond pattern.

To make the tortellini, make the pasta dough by adding the yolks and whole egg to the flour in a food processor. Pulse until it starts to look like coarse breadcrumbs. Turn onto a work surface and bring together with your hands. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for an hour.

Clean and trim the mushrooms, reserving any trimmings for the duck tea. Sauté the mushrooms in a knob of butter, grate in the garlic and season with fine sea salt and white pepper. Transfer to a tray to cool.

Put the chicken in a blender with a teaspoon of salt and blitz to a purée. Put the blender jug and chicken in the freezer for a few minutes to chill down. Add the tarragon and half the cream and continue to blitz until smooth. Be careful not to split the mix. Chill it again, and then rub the mousse through a sieve. Put the mousse into a cold bowl. Chill it again, then beat in the remaining cold cream by hand. Fold in the cooled mushrooms.

Cut your pasta dough in half (freeze the rest for another dish). Using a pasta machine, put the dough through the widest setting a few times, folding it back on itself each time. Carry on passing it through the machine adjusting the settings after each time, passing it through the finest setting twice.

Using a pastry cutter (approximately 10cm) cut discs from the pasta. Spoon some mushroom filling onto each disc. Spray or brush each disc with a little water then fold in half, making sure there are no air bubbles, seal the edges. Wrap each parcel around your finger and pinch the ends together.

Blanch the tortellini in boiling salted water for 1 minute then refresh in iced water. Drain and put on a covered tray in the fridge until required.

To make the pickled turnips, peel and cut each turnip into 3 round discs. Blanch in salted water until just tender, remove to a bowl. Bring all of the pickle ingredients to boil, cool for a few minutes before pouring over the turnips.

To make the duck tea, put all of the ingredients except the Lapsang into a pressure cooker. Cook at full pressure for an hour. Pass through a fine sieve into a saucepan. Add the tea and bring back to a boil. Taste to see if the Lapsang is strong enough and to check the seasoning, before straining into a small teapot.

Season the duck breasts and place skin side down into a dry frying pan, cook gently to render the fat and crisp the skin for about 10 minutes before turning and cooking for another 5 minutes. Add a good squirt of maple syrup and turn the breasts to glaze. Rest in a warm place for 10 minutes.

To serve, add the tea to the duck broth and bring back to a boil.

Put the tortellini into boiling salted water for 2 minutes, drain.

Warm the turnips and place one in the centre of each warm bowl.

Carve each breast and place next to the turnips. Put the tortellini on top, garnish with radish cress, and pour the tea over at the table.

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