Fried green tomatoes with duck confit

Underripe green tomatoes hold together better than their red counterparts when fried. They also keep a pleasant savoury note and make a great vessel for shredded duck tossed with horseradish and creme fraiche.

• serves

  4

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1 large green heirloom tomato
• 1 egg
• 150 g (1 cup) plain flour
• 190 g (1 cup) polenta
• 60 ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil
• 40 g butter
• Finely chopped chives, thinly sliced lemon and cornichons, to serve

Duck confit mix

• 2 confit duck legs
• 65 g (¼ cup) creme fraiche
• 2 tbsp prepared horseradish
• 1 spring onion, thinly sliced  
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. For the duck confit mix, gently tear the duck flesh off the bone with your fingers, then use a knife to roughly shred the confit. You could use a fork or food processor to shred the confit, just be careful not to break it down too much as you want it to have some texture. Place the shredded confit, creme fraiche, horseradish, sliced spring onion and black pepper to taste in a large bowl until well combined. Season if required. Refrigerate until needed.

2. Cut the tomato into four 1 cm-thick slices. Place the egg in a shallow bowl and whisk with 1 tablespoon water. Place the flour and polenta in separate shallow bowls. Dust each of the tomato slices in the flour, then dip in the egg, ensuring it is well coated, then coat in the polenta to form a nice crust.

3. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan over high heat. When the butter is foaming, add the crumbed tomato slices, reduce the heat to medium-low and fry slowly for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden and the tomato has softened. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towel.

4. Place the fried tomatoes on a serving platter. Spoon the duck confit mixture on top, then sprinkle with chives, a grind of black pepper and garnish with lemon slices and cornichons.

Ainsley Harriott explores Australia's best regional produce markets in the brand-new season of Ainsley's Australian Market Menu on SBS and SBS On Demand.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.