The ambition to become “immer besser” has always played a role at Michelin-minted restaurants like SingleThread, but it’s also important in your home kitchen. Here, Chef Connaughton serves up a mouthwatering recipe for roasted duck breast with turnip purée, turnip greens stuffed onions, and almond vinaigrette.
Ingredients:
- 2 Onions, white | peeled and halved
- ¼ cup of olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups Turnips, large with leaves and roots
- 10 ice cubes
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 ¼ cups onions | halved, in rings
- 2 cups of milk
- 1 cup of heavy cream
- 1 tsp of salt
- ¾ cup of Almond oil
- 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups Almond, toasted
- 1 lemon, unwaxed | zest and juice
- 3 tbsp of flat leaf parsley, fresh | chopped
- 1 tsp Coriander seeds, roasted | crushed
- 1 tsp Fennel seeds, roasted | crushed
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 Duck breasts with skin, ready to cook
- 1 cup Duck fat
- 2 pinches salt
- 4 Turnips, small | blanched
Directions:
For the filled onions, preheat the Combi-Steam oven on Combination Mode, Convection Bake to 250°F and 100% moisture. Place the four onion halves in a vacuum bag, add the quarter cup of olive oil and 1 tsp of salt. Vacuum seal, removing all of the air. Place the onions on a perforated steam tray and steam one hour until tender. Remove and chill in the refrigerator.
For the beetroot puree, bring 8 cups of water to a boil on the cooktop. In the meantime, cut the greens off the turnips and set aside. Roughly chop the turnips, add to the pan and simmer until tender. Meanwhile, wash and chop the greens. Remove the turnips with a slotted spoon and put to one side. Prepare a bowl of ice water. Now add the chopped greens into the boiling water and blanch for 10 seconds. Remove with a ladle directly into the ice bath to preserve the color. Drain and set aside.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat and sauté the chopped onions in it without letting them take on color. As soon as they are translucent, add the milk and cream. Bring to a gentle simmer and add the cooked beetroot and salt.
Place the onion and beetroot mixture in a blender and puree until smooth. Remove half of the mixture and keep covered. Add the chopped green beetroot to the blender and continue to blend until smooth and the cream has turned a lovely light green color. Remove and keep warm.
For the vinaigrette, mix the almond oil, olive oil, roasted and chopped almonds, lemon juice and zest, parsley, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Season the duck breasts with salt and place in a single layer together with the duck lard in a vacuum bag and seal at level 3. Set the Combi-Steam oven to Sous Vide at 195°F and place the duck in the oven on a perforated steam tray. Steam for 25 minutes. Remove and allow to cool to room temperature.
Remove the duck breasts from the bag and pat dry. Heat a pan on the cooktop over medium heat and spoon some of the fat from the duck bag into the pan. Place the duck breasts in the pan, skin side down and fry until crispy. Remove and leave to rest for 3 minutes and cut the duck lengthwise into 4 slices.
Place four warm plates on the work surface and center the onions, cut side up on each plate. Put a little of the green puree into the onion. Spoon a bit of the white turnip puree next to the onions. Place the duck breasts onto each plate. Spoon the almond vinaigrette over the duck and around the other components. Garnish with the small turnips.
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