Duck breast with sweet potato

Attention! Takes around 1.5 hours to prepare.

Ingredients (for 2 persons)

Preparation You'll need: Casserole dish Medium-sized pot Two small pots A pan
For the duck breast: 450-500 g breast of a barbary duck 1 small onion 1 scant Tbsp. brown cane sugar 150 mL red wine 300 mL duck stock 1 small carrot 1 celery stalk 80 g leek or celery bulb 2 tsp fermented Pondicherry pepper 25 mL port wine 2 Tbsp honey Normal salt and fleur de sel Sunflower oil
For the port onions: 150-200 g red pearl onions (shallots also work, but are not optimal) 150 mL port wine 4 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar Salt Sunflower oil
For the sweet potato purée: 500 g sweet potatoes 3 tbsp sweet cream Salt and coarse pepper Nutmeg
Preparation in several steps
Step 1: Preparing the duck breast and sauce Rinse the duck breast and carefully pat dry.Cut into the skin with a sharp knife in both directions - taking care to cut into the meat itself as little as possible. Rub the fat layer with fleur de sel, then place in the centre of an ovenproof dish (skin side up) and set aside. Chop 1 small carrot, 1 celery stalk and 80g leek stalk (not the leaves) or celery bulb and set aside in a bowl. Dice 1 small onion and sauté in sunflower oil in a large pan over high heat, sprinkle with just under 1 tbsp brown cane sugar and sauté until caramel forms (under 5 minutes). Deglaze with 150 mL red wine, add remaining vegetables and reduce over medium heat until only a little liquid remains.Tip into small saucepan, add 300 mL duck stock and simmer gently, covered, for 15 minutes. In the meantime, continue with step 2!
Step 2: Preparing the port wine onions Skin 150 to 200 g of pearl onions/shallots and sauté over a rather high heat (medium heat if shallots) in a pan, with a little sunflower oil, stirring frequently, until dark brown. Preheat the oven to 160℃. Deglaze with 150 mL port, reduce greatly, stirring frequently, to about a quarter. Now add 4 tbsp balsamic vinegar, salt a little and glaze over a low heat for about 5 minutes. Set aside in a bowl.
Step 3: Duck breast in the oven Pour the stock (with vegetables) around the duck in the ovenproof dish. Cook in the oven for about 30-35 minutes (fan oven, 160℃, no lid). After 30 minutes, continue here, in the meantime you can make the sweet potato puree.
Step 4: The sweet potato puree Rinse the sweet potatoes and boil them unpeeled in a medium pot until soft (15 to 20 minutes). Then rinse in cold water, peel with your hands (this is very easy) and return to the empty pot. Add 3 tbsp sweet cream, some grated nutmeg, 2 pinches salt and some coarse ground pepper. Mash with a sturdy mash with a sturdy fork or potato masher. Set aside in the pot.
Last steps After a total of 30 minutes in the oven, check the core temperature of the duck breast; it should have reached 60 to 65℃. If so, park the duck breast on a plate for a short while and continue with the sauce. Otherwise, put it back in the oven for a few minutes. You can also check the sauce now, if it is too dry, you can add some more duck stock (50 to 100 mL), but it should be fine. Tip the sauce through a coarse sieve into a large bowl. Discard the vegetables. Now bring the sauce back to a strong boil in the saucepan for the last few minutes, reducing it slightly. Coarsely grind 2 Tbsp pondicherry pepper. In a small saucepan, briefly bring 25 mL port, 2 Tbsp honey and the mortared pepper to the boil, then simmer gently for 2 minutes. Set the pot aside. Put the oven on top grill and wait until the grill coil is very hot. Meanwhile, return the duck breast to the empty oven dish (skin side up). Brush the skin with the honey pepper. Next, put the oven dish back in the oven (middle shelf). As this is now done quickly, you can warm up the dinner plates and 2 medium ceramic bowls for sauces underneath. Roast the duck breast for a few minutes until it has browned as desired; remove from the oven, cut into thick strips. Briefly reheat the puree. Arrange some of the duck, sauce, puree and shallots on each plate and sprinkle some of the remaining honey pepper over them. Place the rest of the puree and sauce in the warmed bowls on the table.