I've been meaning to try Eleven Madison's signature dish - Lavender Honey Duck for ages and finally have gathered all the ingredients I need and freed up some space for dry ageing a whole duck. I must say I was sceptical at first with the use of dried lavender and Sichuan pepper as spice rub, but it turned out to be the best spice rub I have ever had on ducks. It was fragrant, a tinkle of numbness from the pepper, finished with the subtle floral note from the dried lavender and Sichuan pepper that just works so wonderfully together with the crispy duck and it's definitely a recipe that I will store away and use again. I've paired the duck with a lightly pickled fresh plums, and spiced plum and duck jus.
Difficulty: High
Time: 2 hrs*
Serves: 2
* If you are ageing the duck yourself, start this 14 days before the cook.
Ingredients
Duck spice
- 1 tbsp sichuan pepper corn
- 1 tbsp coriander
- 1/2 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp dried lavender
Duck
- 1 14-day aged duck crown only (you can confit the legs for another time)
- 2 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp lavender syrup**
- salt
** I don't have lavender honey so added lavender syrup to enhance the flavour. If you have lavender honey, you can skip the lavender syrup.
Pickled plum
- 1 fresh plum thinly sliced with mandolin
- 1/2 cup verjus
Spiced plum and duck jus
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 plums quartered
- 2 tbsp red win vinegar
- 2 cloves
- 1 juniper berry
- 1/4 tsp all spice
- 1 cup duck jus*
- 2 tbsp butter
- xanthin gum to thicken
* I've pre-made a large batch of this, portion it into ziplock bags and have frozen them. The full recipe is shared at the bottom if you would like to make it.
Method
8-14 Days Prior
1. Dry the duck completely with paper towels. Place it on a baking tray with an elevation rack in a fridge with good air circulation. Allow it to age and dry for 8-14 days.
On the Day
1. Place the sliced plums and verjus in a bowl, set it aside to pickle.
2. Place the honey and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, caramelise to a very deep brown colour, before adding the plums, cloves, all spice, juniper berry and cook for 5 minutes. Deglaze with the vinegar and cook for another 2 minutes before adding in the duck stock. Cook it until the plums are fully softened and the liquid is reduced to approximately half a cup. Sprinkle anthem gum over the sauce to thicken to the the consistency required and pass the sauce through a sieve.
3. In a spice grinder, grind the szechuan peppercorns, coriander, and cumin until roughly ground. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the lavender flowers.
4. Preheat a convection oven to 190c. Remove and discard the neck, feet, and wing tips of the duck, and truss it with butcher’s twine. Rub thoroughly with honey to coat all of the skin, season with salt, then coat evenly with the duck spice.
5. Place on a roasting rack and roast for 8 minutes. Rotate the duck and return it to the oven for another 8-9 minutes until it reaches an internal temperature of 53 degrees. Remove from the oven, and rest for 15 minutes before carving.
6. Serve by gently fold the pickled plums onto the plate, follow by the duck and drizzle generously with the spiced plum and duck jus. Enjoy!
Duck Jus
Ingredients
- 1 kg duck wings
- 1/2 kg chicken feet
- 1 tbsp duck fat
- 1 cup onion sliced
- 1 cup carrots diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup port
- 3/4 cup red wine
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 5 pepper corns
Method
1. Preheat oven to 190. Place the duck wings well spread out on baking trays lined up with baking paper and cook it in the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes until it's dark brown, turning every 20 minutes.
2. Heat up the duck fat in a stock pot, sauté the onion, carrot and celery until well caramelised for about 7 to 10 minutes.
3. Add the tomato paste and cook for a further 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Add the port and reduce by half. Add the red wine and reduce until it achieves a syrupy consistency.
5. Add the thyme, bay leaf and pepper corn.
6. Add the duck wings and chicken feet and add water until it's about 5 cm above the ingredients. Bring it to boil and reduce to simmer and cook over 5 hours. either continuously or over a few days. The flavour intensifies if you let it cool down and reheat again.
7. Once it's ready, strain the jus into a large pot, portion them in zip lock bags and keep it in freezer until you need them.
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