Carrie Nahabedian | Chefs off the Clock

Serves 2

• 1 Moulard duck breast
• 4 French breakfast radishes, depending on size
• 10 crosnes
• 8 Thumbelina carrots
• Pinch of fennel seeds
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Cracked black pepper
• Soft butter
• Port to deglaze

Molasses mixture

• 2 oz. molasses
• Pink peppercorns
• 1 oz. white truffle honey
• 2 oz. blossom honey
• 2 oz. Burton’s maple syrup

Candied Orange

• 1 orange
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water

Poached cranberries

• ½ lb. fresh cranberries
• 8 oz. duck or veal stock
• 2 oz. Minus 8 ice vinegar
• 6 oz. freshly juiced orange juice
• 1 split vanilla bean
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 star anise

Method

1. Combine the molasses, honey, and maple syrup together and heat up in a saucepot. Add a few pink peppercorns for flavor. Keep warm. This mixture can be kept refrigerated for a week.
2. Peel the radishes. I personally don’t like to, but some people like the peel off. If they have a nice top of leaves, keep the leaves on. If they are large, you will need less for garnish. In a sauté pan, slowly sweat the radishes in soft butter, season, and cook until tender. If they are petite, use them whole; if not, split them in half lengthwise.
3. Prepare the crosnes – if necessary! They are “self-contained,” so they don’t need any attention; just LOVE and respect! Prepare just like the radishes.
4. To make candied orange, make light syrup: bring 1 cup of sugar to a boil with 1 cup of water. Remove from the heat. With a peeler, taking care not to peel the white pith of the orange, peel the rind. Julienne the rind into fine strips. Blanch quickly in hot water to remove oils, then refresh under cold water. Add to the syrup and cook for 10 minutes over low heat. Reserve. It can be refrigerated for future use.
5. Prepare a light syrup gastrique: in a heavy saucepot, place the sugar in the pan over medium high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon as the sugar caramelizes. Remove from the heat and add the Minus 8 vinegar. Return to the heat, add the orange juice, and bring to a boil. Add the fresh cranberries, star anise, and the split vanilla bean. Bring back to a quick simmer and just as the cranberries begin to “pop,” remove from the heat.
6. Peel the Thumbelina carrots and place in cold water to remove any dirt around the stem. Blanch quickly to refresh. Sauté in whole butter with a touch of toasted fennel seeds; caramelize the carrots. Set aside.
7. Trim the excess fat from the duck breast and score the fat on the breast for even cooking. Season generously on both sides with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. Sear the breast in a heavy sauté pan over medium to high heat on the fat side. Lower the heat once it browns and baste the bird breast without turning it over. Once the fat has rendered on the bird, flip the breast onto the skin side for just a moment. Then flip it back and generously “lacquer” the bird with the molasses mixture.
8. Keep basting it until the breast is medium rare. Remove breast from the pan, pour off excess lacquer, and let rest on a rack. Deglaze the pan with a nice splash of port, the pink peppercorns, and a little water to loosen all the lacquer. Add 8 oz. duck jus, bring to a boil, reduce by a third, and add in a knob of soft butter, a splash of port, 2 oz. of the candied orange, and poached cranberries. Keep warm.
9. Slice the duck into medium-thick slices, cross-grain lengthwise. Garnish with the radishes and crosnes and spoon the sauce over the duck.