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My recipe
Spiced duck with pears
Introduction
The delicious casserole is based on a Catalan dish that uses goose or duck. The sautéed pears are added towards the end of cooking, along with picarda sauce, a pounded pine nut and garlic paste with both flavours and thickens.
- 6 duck portions (either breast or leg pieces)
- 1 tbsp olive (vegetable) oil
- 1 large onion, thinly sliced (100 g shallots halved)
- 1 cinnamon stick, halved
- 2 thyme sprigs
- 1 bay leaf
- 450 ml chicken stock
TO FINISH
- 3 firm ripe pears
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves sliced
- 25 g pine nuts
- ½ tsp saffron strands
- 2 tbsp raisins
- Salt, ground black pepper, young thyme sprigs or parsley for garnish
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350F, Gas 4)/fry the duck portions in the olive oil for about 5 minutes until the skin is golden. Season duck with salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Transfer the duck to an ovenproof dish and drain off all but 1 tbsp of the fat left in the pan
- Add the onion to the pan and fry for 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon stick, thyme, bay leaf, stock and bring to boil. Pour over the duck and bake in the oven for 1 ¼ hours
- Meanwhile, peel, core and halve the pears and fry quickly in the oil until beginning to turn golden on the cut side. Pound the garlic, pine nuts and saffron in the a mortar, with a pestle, to make a thick, smooth paste
- Add the paste to the casserole along with the raisins and pears. Bake for a further 15 minutes until the pear are tender
- Season the taste with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley or thyme. Serve with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable.
Thoughts and Ideas
A good stock is essential for a dish. Buy a large duck (plus two extra duck breasts if you want portions to be generous) and joint it yourself using the giblets and carcass for stock. Alternatively buy duck portions and a carton of chicken stock.
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