happy mid autumn festival! though i am never a festivity person, it is nonetheless a good opportunity for family get together and, of course, for me to whip up something special and nice. many would have insisted on a Chinese feast for a (pre) celebration like this, but since i am never too confident in elaborate Chinese cooking and since it is quite rare for my dad to dine on something Western, i was up to my usual knife and fork courses!
lacking the luxury of time for preparation (i was on a movie date with Midnight in Paris - and it was fantastic :D), i as usual opted for a cold cuts and cheeses platter as appetisers and no-substitute matches to our Super Tuscan red. for seafood i cooked up my house signature Thai style mussels and also played around with a baked seabream in parcel. what actually stole the spotlight is the luscious seared duck breast with asparagus risotto.
i had made a largely similar dish earlier using ready-to-eat smoked duck breast, diced and mixed into the rice. to lift things up for the festive dinner i used instead chilled fresh duck breast flown in from France (at a wobbling 3 times dearer than the smoked duck) and pan seared it myself. it was quite a challange as i have had the experience of messing up a fresh breast with badly burned skin and torn meat...
remembering an article from my recently acquired Cook's Illustrated Annual recipe collections, i sought help from these cooking scientists and followed the technique of renderng fat on low heat. needless to say the duck breast turned out brilliant - with delightfully crispy skin and perfect medium rare flesh, though some of my diners would prefer a more medium texture. i have got about 3 tablespoon of lovely duck fat from the process which was just right for drizzling on the risotto before serving, elevating the dish to an even more sublime level of sensation!
pan seared duck breast with asparagus risotto
DO NOT rinse the rice or you risk losing the signature creaminess of authentic risotto. scoring the duck skin ensures that it crisps up nicely during the fat rendering. i threw in the asparagus at the final stage of cooking but if you prefer you can blanch them beforehand and toss them in with the finished risotto. i added the orange zest both for the sake of garnish and for complementing flavours - duck and orange make for a perfect match - but the dish just works as fine without it.
you will need:
1 piece of duck breast - mine was about 400g
salt and pepper to taste
3 to 4 cups stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup Arborio rice
splash of white wine
200g baby asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
handful grated parmesan
drizzle of duck fat - to be obtained from the duck breast
handful grated orange zest, optional
for the seared duck breast, rinse and pat dry the breast and score the skin in diamond patterns, taking care not to cut through into the flesh. season with salt and pepper.
without adding any oil, heat a frying pan on medium until really hot, about 2 to 3 mins, then slide in the duck breast skin side down. immediately turn down the heat to medium low, leaving the duck breast untouched, and observe the pool of fat being rendered from the skin. let it fry on low for 10 to 15 minutes - you may leave it up slightly to keep an eye on the level of browness (Cook's Illustrated actually advises a rendering of 20 to 25 minutes but i did not have the time - and the gut!).
gently flip over (beware of the splashing oil) and cook the other side for 2 to 6 minutes until cooked to your liking. you may also browned the underside for a minute or two and finish cooking in a 200°C oven. remove from pan, pat off excess oil with absorbent papers, and rest on a plate tent with foil.
for the asparagus risotto, heat the stock until just boiling. heat oil in a heavy base saucepan over medium and sautee onion until slightly soft. throw in the rice and stir until they are well toasted. splash in the wine and let the alcohol boil off, then add in a ladleful of hot stock and keep stirring until almost all stock is absorbed. add in another ladleful, keep stirring to prevent sticking, until almost absorbed. repeat with the stock until rice are plump and creamy, throwing in the asparagus towards the end of cooking.
remove from heat and stir in parmesan until melted, and transfer to serving plate. slice the duck breast and arrange on top of risotto. sprinkle with orange zest and serve immediately.
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