Chef’s Recipe: Roast Mallard Duck with Creamed Brussels Sprouts, Dauphinoise Potatoes and Red Currant Sauce from Martin Wishart

This week we bring you an alternative to traditional turkey for your Christmas dinner creation that cannot fail to impress.  This Roast Mallard Duck recipe comes from one of the UK’s most highly respected chefs, Martin Wishart from the eponymous Restaurant Martin Wishart. Martin, born in Edinburgh, trained under such renowned chefs as Albert Roux, Michel Roux Jr, Marco Pierre White and John Burton Race before establishing himself as a multi-awarded Chef and Restaurateur.

Skill level 4 (1 simple to 5 being complex and challenging)

Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 wild mallard ducks
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper

For the Dauphinoise Potatoes 

• 1 kg potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 350ml double cream
• 250ml milk
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 20g butter
• Salt to taste

For the creamed Brussels Sprouts

• 120g unsmoked bacon
• 150g celeriac
• 150g carrot
• 450g Brussels sprouts
• 125g unsalted butter
• 500ml fresh chicken stock
• 150ml double cream

For the Redcurrant Sauce

• 100g redcurrants
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 75ml water
• Squeeze of lemon juice

METHOD:

1. Heat the oven to 190°C and place a roasting pan in the oven.
2. Add the oil to the roasting pan.
3. Season the ducks with salt and pepper, including their insides and then place the ducks on their backs in the hot roasting tray.
4. Roast them in the oven for 10 minutes, then turn them over on to their sides and roast each side for 4 minutes.
5. Remove the ducks from the roasting tray and place them breast side down so that the juices flow back through the meat

For the Dauphinoise Potatoes 

1. Arrange the potatoes in a well-buttered dish to allow a depth of about 5cm.
2. Put the milk, cream, garlic, salt and nutmeg into a pan and bring it up to the boil.
3. Strain this liquid over the potatoes while hot.
4. Dot the top of the potatoes with butter.
5. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 220˚C for around 20 minutes. Then cover with tin foil and continue cooking for a further 30 minutes.

 For the creamed Brussels Sprouts

1. Cut the carrot and celeriac into 2mm dice and set aside.
2. Cut the bacon into thin lardons.
3. Melt the butter in a wide heavy-based pan and fry the lardons until starting to brown.
4. Add the carrot and celeriac to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Cut the sprouts in half and remove the outer leaves and tough core. Shred the sprouts finely and add to the pan with the bacon.
6. Cook for 1 minute turning to coat in the butter and season lightly with salt.
7. Heat the chicken stock in a pan and add it to the sprouts.
8. Cook on a high heat until the stock has reduced almost completely and the sprouts are almost cooked.
9. Add the cream and cook on a high heat to reduce to a thick consistency. Set aside.

For the Redcurrant Sauce

1. Pick the redcurrants from their stems, reserving 25-30 for a garnish.
2. Bring the water to the boil with the sugar in a small saucepan.
3. Add the remaining redcurrants and simmer for 30 seconds more.
4. Pour the sauce into a liquidizer and blend for 1 minute.
5. Strain through a fine sieve squeezing all the juice through using a ladle.
6. Add a few drops of lemon juice and the whole redcurrants for the garnish.

NOTE: Depending on your taste you may want to add a little more sugar to sweeten the sauce.

Alternatively, you can visit Restaurant Martin Wishart’s in Edinburgh and sample his creations first hand. And as a Luxury Restaurant Club member and enjoy a complimentary glass of Champagne, see details here. Download the Luxury Restaurant Guide free app here.

Restaurant Martin Wishart, 54 The Shore, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH6 6RA