Duck recipe taps into maple season
New cookbook explores nature’s original sweetener
Maple season is in full swing, a good time for a new book about the maple and its colourful history — from its roots in China more than 130 million years ago, to the forests along the St. Lawrence River, where Jacques Cartier came exploring in 1557.
The trees migrated to northeastern North America by way of Alaska, writes New York State maple producer Robb Turner, and Quebec’s First Nations first harvested the sap. Cartier’s travel companion, Franciscan priest André Thévet, compared this sap to fine French wine. Later explorers wrote about how the native peoples concentrated the sap into maple sugar, and used it to sweeten meat or fish, a tradition we maintain.
This recipe for duck with a spiced maple sauce is in Turner’s book, Guide to Maple Syrup: How to Tap and Cook with Nature’s Original Sweetener (Abrams/Canadian Manda Group). He offers a tempting collection of more than 50 maple recipes.
MAPLE DUCK BREASTS
Serves: 4
4 medium duck breasts, 6 ounces (170 g) each 1 tsp (5 mL) kosher or coarse salt ½ tsp (2.5 mL) fennel seeds 1 star anise pod 1 tsp (5 mL) coriander seeds 1 tsp (5 mL) whole black peppercorns ½ tsp (2.5 mL) crushed red pepper flakes (optional) Grated zest (rind) of 1 medium orange 2 tbsp (30 mL) butter or vegetable oil ¼ cup (60 mL) dark maple syrup
1. Score the skin of the duck breasts with criss-cross slashes, being careful not to cut through the meat. Rub skin with salt and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Using a spice grinder, grind together the fennel, star anise, coriander, peppercorns and pepper flakes. Place spice mixture in a bowl, stir in orange zest and rub the duck breasts with about 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the blend.
3. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). Heat an ovenproof frying pan over high heat for one minute. Add two duck breasts, skin side down, to the hot pan and cook for five to seven minutes without moving them, until the meat will come easily from the pan with tongs or a spatula. Transfer duck to a plate and repeat with the remaining two.
4. Lower heat to medium-low and pour off the rendered duck fat; store it for another occasion.
5. Add butter to the pan and add the remaining spice mixture and the maple syrup, stirring to make a sauce. Working two breasts at a time, return duck to pan and increase heat slightly to medium. Cook for an extra six to eight minutes for medium-rare doneness (130 F/54 C), spooning maple sauce over the breasts as they cook. If duck is not mediumrare after eight minutes, transfer to the oven and roast for an additional five minutes or until it is medium-rare.
6. Remove duck to a cutting board, skin side up and cook the remaining breasts. Let them rest for two minutes, then slice thinly and serve with sauce on the side.