Here we’ve matched succulent pan-fried wild duck breast with a medley of glazed beets, creamy celeriac, and a fruity orange sauce. Follow the cooking instructions closely to get the mallard right. If you can’t find the sweeter candy beet, that’s fine; just use another purple beetroot.
Method
1. Boil the Beets
To prevent the colours from running, boil each type of beet in a separate pan until just soft, remove from the water and peel them with a small chef’s knife or table knife. If you’re not too worried about presentation, just boil all the beets together and follow the same steps.
2. Slice the Beets
Slice the candy beetroot into 4 pieces and the purple beetroot into 8. Leave the golden beetroots whole, keep the tails on if possible.
3. Dice up the Celeriac
Dice up the celeriac and place in boiling salted water. When it is soft drain and add butter, put in a food blender and blitz with a touch of double cream.
4. Prepare the mallard
Trim the fat off the sides of the breast, leaving just a little excess.\n\nNext, place the mallard breast skin side down in a cold pan and turn it to a medium heat. This heats up the meat with the pan and helps to draw out the fat; as the meat warms, keep tipping the excess fat into an empty pan or container.
5. Roast at 180 degrees
After 5 minutes or so of rendering the fat, roast the breast skin side up in a hot oven at 180 degrees for 10 to 18 minutes.
6. Rest the meat
Once ready, take the duck from the oven, brush it with a little salted butter and leave to rest.
7. Create the sauce
In a saucepan, reduce 100ml of red wine by half, and add 200ml of duck stock, 5g marmite and the juniper berries. Reduce this on a rapid heat to infuse the juniper and thicken the sauce.\n\nWhen the sauce looks sticky and like a jus, squeeze in half an orange, this will freshen up the sauce and help glaze your beetroots.
8. Glaze the beets
Brush the beets with a little sauce and place the beets in the oven at 180 degrees until you get a sticky glaze.
9. Plate up the mallard
Carve the mallard breast in to 2 pieces squaring off the rounded side so you can present it well. Pick some fresh wood sorrel and set to one side.\n\nPlace your 2 pieces of mallard on a plate and arrange your glazed beetroots around it, the more random this dish looks the better.
10. Decorate and serve
Finish the dish by saucing your breast with the juniper and orange jus, and decorate the plate with your picked wood sorrel.