This recipe is made for us by Another Food Blogger to match with our Sparkling Blanc de Noir.
The compleixty of the wine goes perfectly with the richness of the duck, sweetness of the cherries and creaminess of the cheese.
Try to use delicious Tasmanian hazelnuts (like the ones from Hazelbrae) and Tasmanian cherries.
Makes 24 crostini
At first there may seem like quite a lot of steps to this recipe but the goats cheese, crostini & hazelnuts can all be made in advance of the dinner party/event and while the duck rests you can cook the cherries making this an easy dish to serve to your guests!
Ingredients
Duck breast x 2
Thyme x 1 tbsp & extra for garnish
Bread x 24 slices of baguette
Cherries x 24 (200g)
Goats Cheese x 200g
Cream x 100ml
Milk x 4 tbsp
Balsamic vinegar x 2 tbsp
Hazelnuts x 50g
Olive oil x 5 tbsp
All the ingredients…don’t forget the wine!
Method
Crostini
1. Slice the baguette into 24 slices. Using a pastry brush rub each side of the crostini with the remaining oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt
2. Place in a baking tray and cook in the oven @ 180c for 5 minutes, flip and cook for a further 3-5 minutes until crispy (crostini can be made well in advance).
Duck
1. Slice duck skin at an angle with a sharp knife, being careful not to cut through to the flesh
2. Season ducks generously with salt (no oil is necessary)
3. Place duck skin side down into a cold pan on low heat setting. Cook undisturbed for 8 minutes.
4. Flip the duck, cook for 2 minutes flesh side down
5. Place the duck on a wire rack on a baking tray skin side up and cook for a further 3-4 minutes or until internal temp is 52c
6. Reserve rendered duck fat from the frying pan for some epic roast potatoes another time 😉
7. Rest duck for 8-10 minutes before slicing each breast into 12 thin slices
Cherries
1. Remove the seeds from the cherries using a cherry pitter (see notes if you don’t have a pitter).
2. Slice in ½ and toss cherries in 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, balsamic & 1 tbsp chopped thyme
3. Place on a lined baking tray and roast @ 180c for 6-8 minutes
Hazelnuts
1. Lightly toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan for 1-2 minutes
2. Remove and chop
Goats Cheese Mousse
1. Mix goats cheese & milk together until smooth
2. Whip the cream to soft peaks and stir into the goats cheese mixture
Serving
1. Place a spoon of goats cheese mousse on the crostini, top with some cherries, a slice of duck breast and sprinkle of hazelnuts
2. Try not to eat them all before your guests get a chance to 😉
Essential Tools
· Frying pan
· Baking tray x 2
· Wire rack
· Mixing bowl x 3
· Chef knives
· Chopping board
· Measuring utensils
Tips/Tricks
· If you don’t have a cherry pitter you can chop the cherries in ½ and use a knife/spoon to pick out the stone. A pitter will save you a good amount of time but I used the other method and it took about 5 minutes to do
· We cook the duck on a low heat to render out the fat from the skin, this gives us a delicious crispy skin and non fatty duck
· Resting the duck is HUGELY important, if you don’t rest it for long enough the juices won’t redistribute and you will have a pool of juice everywhere and dry duck!
Recipe & photography by Another Food Blogger
