June 2009 Archives

 Ingredients

 

(serves four)

 

For the duck

2 whole ducks (take the legs off and use for confit)

Salt and pepper

2 oranges (with their zest very finely julienned and segments kept)

275ml duck stock (jus)

 

For the spinach and watercress mousse

200g washed spinach

100g watercress, picked

175ml double cream (infused with ½ clove of garlic, nutmeg, salt and pepper)

3 size 2 egg yolks

Salt and pepper + knob of butter

 

 

 

 

For the crushed olive-oil Jersey Royal potatoes

 

275ml white chicken stock

275ml water

450g medium-sized Jerseys (scraped and chopped evenly)

50g finely chopped shallots

110ml olive oil

1tbs chopped parsley

Salt and pepper

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Method

 

Prick the duck skins all over with a skewer, then truss. Pour boiling water over the breasts to loosen the skin, then pat dry and refrigerate for as long as possible. Season with salt, pepper and orange zest. Place the ducks in a dry pan over a low heat, then roast the ducks on top of the stove until golden all over. This may take 10-20 minutes.

 

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Transfer the breasts to the oven, skin-side up, and roast for about 10 minutes at 200ºC. It should be cooked medium and crispy. Drain the fat from the pan and deglaze with the reduced duck stock and juice of one orange. Taste the sauce and finish with a knob of butter.

 

To make the crushed olive oil Jerseys, place the stock and water in a pan, along with the potatoes. Bring to the boil and cook until soft. Drain well, then return to the pan and crush potatoes. Keep aside. In another pan sweat the shallots in a little olive oil. When soft, throw into the pan of potatoes along with the rest of the olive oil, chopped parsley and knob of butter.

 

To make the mousse, blanch the greens in boiling water and refresh. Then squeeze dry. Bring the cream and garlic to the boil.

 

Place the greens in a blender with the egg yolks and heated cream and allow to infuse and season. Blitz and pass through a medium sieve. Pour the mixture into four buttered dariole moulds or ramekins. Place in a bain-marie and cover with clingfilm. Cook in a low oven (120ºC) for about 30 mins or until just set.

 

Carve the duck into thin slices, place on the watercress mousse, and garnish with the segments, julienne and crushed olive-oil Jersey potatoes. Pour the sauce over and around the duck.

 

Galton Blackiston, chef patron, Morston Hall, Norfolk

 

Just a quickie on the winning dishes of the Great British Menu. The dishes, courtesy of Kenny Atkinson, Glynn Purnell, Nigel Haworth and Shaun Rankin were:

Salad of Aberdeen Angus beef, carrots, horseradish and Shetland Black potato crisps, by Kenny Atkinson, head chef the White Room, Seaham Hall, cooking for the North East

Masala spiced monkfish with red lentils, pickled carrots and coconut, by Glynn Purnell, chef-patron, Purnell's, Birmingham, cooking for the Central region (which you can see Caterer's masterclass of here)

Lancashire hot pot, roast loin, pickled red cabbage, carrots and leeks, by Nigel Haworth, chef patron, Northcote, Lancashire, cooking for the North West

Treacle tart with Jersey clotted cream and raspberry coulis, by Shaun Rankin, head chef, Bohemia, Jersey

Firstly, I can happily say that I've eaten Glynn Purnell's monkfish dish and it's as good as the judges claimed. Just imagine a fish curry as light and tasty as you can and you'll be somewhere near. Secondly, it's great to see Nigel Haworth, who must have twenty years on some of this year's contestants, show that simplicity, honesty and creativity can comfortably hold its own against the smears and foams of 21st century cuisine, and its a great reward for a chef esteemed in kitchens across the country. Lastly, the battle for the starter provided the source for the most gags, with the public over-turned the judge's decision and put through the diminutive Kenny Atkinson at the expense of the equally-short James Sommerin in what the other chefs labelled the Battle for Middle Earth. Make your own assumptions who they cast as Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee.

It's Jersey Royal time but not all is not well in the kingdom of the popular tattie. Over the past few years, the trend in Jersey has been to move away from the traditional method of farming, which involved covering the ground with seaweed to a less labour intensive method where phosphates are sprayed onto the fields. Connoisseurs among you will have noted the lack of flavour in the past couple of years. However, there is at least one farm where seaweed is still used to fertilize and flavour the potatoes and where they are still picked daily by hand and immediately dispatched to wholesalers. Chefs keen to get hold of these rare specimens should contact Chef Direct on 01275 474707, while punters looking for them will have to make the trek to the company's Taste shop in Barrow Guernsey near Bristol.