Wild duck with colcannon

This dish pays homage to my Irish heritage and was eaten to help the stop of scurvy. If you can’t get wild duck, just use farmed duck breasts instead. Wild duck skin is not the tastiest, so I have taken it off, but farmed duck skin is good to use.

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 5 Red Norland potatoes, or any good mashing potato, scrubbed and quartered
• 50 g unsalted butter
• 1 bunch kale, stalks removed, leaves washed and roughly chopped
• 1 leek, halved lengthways, rinsed and roughly chopped
• 1 purple garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp finely chopped chives 
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 wild duck breasts, skin removed (see Note)
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil

Resting time 10 minutes

Instructions

Place the potatoes in a saucepan of lightly salted cold water and bring to the boil. Simmer until tender and a knife withdraws easily, then drain well and reserve the pan. 

Melt the butter in the reserved pan over low heat. Add the kale, leek and garlic and cook for 10 minutes or until softened. Add the potatoes and chives and stir until well combined. Season to taste.

Place the duck breasts on a plate and season each side liberally, then drizzle lightly with oil. Place a large heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. When the pan is smoking hot, add the breasts and cook for 5 minutes on each side. Remove the pan from the heat and stand the duck in the pan to rest for 5 minutes, then serve with the colcannon.

Note

• If you’re using farmed duck with the skin, cook the breasts skin-side down for 7 minutes to render out the fat. Turn and cook for 3-4 minutes on the flesh side, then remove from the heat and rest for 5 minutes before serving. 

This recipe is from Gourmet Farmer Afloat. Starts Thursday 19 February 2015 at 7:30pm on SBS ONE.

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.