Crispy Duck, Kale and Mushroom Risotto
There are two ingredients I discovered recently that I can’t get enough of. The first is young garlic, which has all the flavor of garlic without most of the bite. When you peel it, it doesn’t separate into cloves, but still has the little indentitations where the cloves would be, and I just grate a whole bulb into pasta dishes or shave it into paper thin slices and tuck it into chicken or what have you. It’s amazing, but it’s only around for the tail end of autumn and, cross my fingers, for a few months in winter. I bought some just this week at Akhavan and it’s the end of December, so we’ll see how it goes.
The second is kale. Why I never crossed paths with kale before is beyond me, but it’s delicious, kind of like the leafy parts of broccoli with a more cabbagey texture. It’s rarely more than $2 for a huge head of the stuff whenever I go shopping and seems as welcome in any dish as spinach would be. It’s also ridiculously healthy. Go figure.
When it comes to things like risotto or pasta, I’m never really sure if I should post recipes here anymore. I think this is simply me second guessing myself now that I’ve been doing this for so long that I don’t think anyone wants to read these sorts of things because I don’t go looking on the Internet for pasta recipes anymore. I’m just not sure when to stop on a risotto tangent once I get started, for instance, and I’ll be running into May and still babbling about all the variations available to you.
So I’ll leave it at this one for now and see how it goes. Risotto isn’t difficult by any means, though it is a bit time consuming. I don’t buy the whole idea of constantly standing over the pot and stirring it, but at the same time I do kind of like the ritual of making it that way. If you can transfer liquid from one pot to another and do this for twenty minutes, you’re well on your way to making a risotto. The most important part is taking your time with each step to bring out the flavor of each ingredient and using good ingredients to begin with. A risotto made with Kraft “Parmesan” and Minute Rice isn’t going to cut it.
I like a bit of broth on the plate rather than the dry and sticky mass. I will confess that by the time I served this it was a notch passed perfect though. I used a simple mixture of crimini (baby portobellos) and button mushrooms for this, though woodsier mushrooms like morels would be fantastic. The crispy skin and succulent meat of the duck is just a nice compliment to the otherwise creamy and soft rice.
- 2 duck breasts
- 1/2 pound mixed mushrooms, halved
- 1 head kale, thick stems removed and roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
- 1 large shallot, finely minced
- 1 head young garlic, finely minced
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 cup Arborio or other Italian short grain Risotto rice
- 1/2 glass dry white wine
- 4ish cups chicken stock
- 3 ounces Parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter
- salt and pepper
- Strictly speaking this isn’t completely necessary, but I like to do it if I’m planning ahead. Score the fatty part of the duck with a sharp knife and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place this on a rack set on a plate in the refrigerator so air can circulate around it. Leave this for 24-48 hours. This helps boost the flavor of the duck and also to crisp up the skin.
- Once you’re ready to cook, remove the duck from the fridge and let it warm up for at least half an hour at room temperature. Warm your chicken stock in a pot over medium heat.
- Place both breasts fat side down in a large skillet then turn the heat to medium. This will help to render the fat out slowly. Continue cooking the duck on the fatty side until very crispy, then flip to continue cooking the other side until done to your liking. Set aside and keep warm.
- In the hot, rendered fat, add the mushrooms and saute until a deep brown. Add the kale and continue to cook until wilted. I know it’s bad ettiquette to add such a comment now, but you could also blanch the kale beforehand instead. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
- In the same pan, add the olive oil, butter, shallot, garlic and bay leaves with a pinch of salt and cook until the shallot is soft and translucent.
- Add the rice to the pan and allow it to get coated with the butter and oil. Cook this for a minute or two, stirring often, then add the white wine.
- Reduce the wine until it has almost nearly evaporated, then add a ladle of the stock. Allow this to cook into the rice, and repeatedly add another ladle of stock until the rice is nearly done, stirring at your leisure.
- When the rice is nearly cooked (it will still be slightly toothy), add a final ladle of stock, the mushrooms and kale and stir frequently. Once most of the liquid has been absorbed, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the cheese and cold butter and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve with your duck breast, either sliced and mixed into the risotto or whole on its own.