And here it is - Bruce's Cookbook, the first cookbook by Bruce Poole, Michelin starred chef of the award winning Chez Bruce (which just so happens to be my favourite restaurant of all time). To anyone who buys it, this is an incredibly well written cookbook. The intro is wonderful and really sets the scene for the rest of the book - and each recipe is written with such care that it is a joy to cook from. Right...enough gushing...
For Saturday 21 Jan, I decided on one course, as we had plans that evening. So I chose something that looked simpler than most of them to kick off with. I went for the Duck breast with roast shallots, wild mushrooms, peas and pancetta, for which I used:
4 large unpeeled banana shallots
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil
50g unsalted butter
100g fresh or frozen peas
4 duck breasts (c200g each) -I went for Gressingham
2 rashers of smoked, streaky bacon, cut into lardons
100g fresh wild mushrooms (I chose oyster and buna shimeji, and used more, c150g - you can never have too many mushrooms)
1/2 tsp fresh thyme
100ml Madeira or Port (I used port, Cockburns)
100ml chicken stock
1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked off
Firstly, I preheated the oven to 175C (mine's fan assisted, and this was the perfect temperature for the
recommended time).
I then put an ovenproof frying pan (I used a paella pan, as that's the closest I had at that point - it worked fine) over medium heat, added a large tablespoon of vegetable oil and waited until it was hot. I cut each shallot in half lengthways (the shallots should remain unpeeled - I removed some of the flakier outer shell) and then laid them, flat side down, into the frying pan. I pan fried them for c 5minutes until they had visibly coloured (a sort of dark brown colour), then added half of the butter and to the pan and put it in the oven for 35 minutes.
In the meantime, I prepared the peas (I used frozen petit pois, cooked slightly less than the packet suggested) until they were al dente, put them aside for later and started preparing the duck. The shallots were done while I was preparing the duck (the onions were soft when touched), so I put a couple of plates into the oven to warm.
For the duck breasts, I then seasoned them thoroughly on both sides. I put them into a cold, non-stick frying pan (although as, at that point, I didn't have a pan big enough for four duck breasts, I used two pans), skin side down, over medium heat. Once the fat started releasing from the skin, I turned the heat down a little and basted the duck with its own fat regularly until the skin had reached a golden brown colour. I have never cooked duck in this way before, and found it very effective.
I then flipped the breast over and fried for another couple of minutes, then left the breasts to rest in the pan for a few minutes before transferring them onto a warmed plate and covering them in foil to stay warm.
I put the used duck pan back onto a medium heat, before adding the lardons for a couple of minutes and then added the mushrooms and the thyme and turned up the heat slightly. I sauteed them for about 5 minutes, added the port and, once the liquid had cooked away, added the stock and reduced this by half. I then turned the heat down, added the peas, parsley and remaining butter and then added a little more pepper.The recipe notes that the sauce should not boil at this point - it should be over a very low heat.
I had also boiled some ready made spaetzle in the meantime, so it was time to plate up - I added the spaetzle and spooned the mushroom and pea sauce onto the plate. I then carved the duck and laid it on top of the sauce, added a roasted shallot, and it was ready to go. In hindsight, I should have layered this dish slightly differently - spaetzle first, then sauce on top, then duck on top of that - but meh, it tasted awesome.
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