Ginger and Honey Magret de Canard

► by Chef de Cuisine David Bourgeois of Bohemian Bar and Restaurant

“This is a traditional French way of preparing duck breast,”
says Bohemian Bar and Restaurant’s Chef de Cuisine David Bourgeois. “Rare or medium-rare, it’s a beautiful meat.” At Bohemian, Bourgeois receives special shipments from France.

^{— Photography Kenneth Theysen}

Fresh meats – including duck – and vegetables arrive each week, ensuring that the ingredients are true to the chef’s recipes and origins. “For the potato purée, we are getting a special potato from Holland,” Bourgeois says. “We prepare them in the style of Joël Robuchon, which makes a beautiful smooth bed for the duck.”

Chef Bourgeois is an expert at preparing classic European dishes. The Brussels-born chef loves the tropics and the heat; he left colder climes early in his career for warmer spots, from Monaco to St. Maarten and St. Barts, before taking up his role as chef de cuisine at Bohemian three years ago.

“Our customers are looking for something different, something that reminds them of their home and their travels,” he says. With the gingery notes of the sweet and salty sauce drizzled over the duck breast and enjoyed with a light Burgundy red, we’d say this one fits the bill.

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Ginger and Honey Magret de Canard
Serves 4

                   

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Ingredients     

4 duck breasts, skin on

Potato Purée

650 g Dutch potato or other yellow-fleshed potato, like Yukon Gold, scrubbed but not peeled
165 ml milk
350 g butter
3 g fine sea salt

Sauce Magret

25 g ginger, freshly washed, unpeeled, chopped
35 g honey
30 g lime rind
15 g fond de veau (veal stock)
250 ml water

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Duck Breast

1. Remove any extra fat from the sides of the duck breast.

2. Using a sharp knife, score the fat on the top of the breast; create a cross-hatch pattern but avoid cutting into the breast itself.

3. Place the duck breasts in a cold pan, with the fat side down.

4. Cook on low flame for approximately fifteen minutes, until the fat is crispy and brown. Use a spoon to gently baste the filet with the cooking fat released into the pan.

5. Remove the duck breasts from the pan, letting them rest for ten minutes.

6. Return the duck breasts to pan on a medium flame, this time meat side down.

7. Slice and plate the duck breast on a bed of potato purée, drizzling the sauce magret over the breast.

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Potato Purée

1. Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water.

2. When a knife inserted in the potato comes out clean, remove the potatoes from the water.

3. Peel the potatoes while they are still hot.

4. Mix the potatoes in a bowl with salt, cold milk, and cold butter, hand-whipping until incorporated and the texture is smooth.

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Sauce Magret

1. Boil ginger, honey, and lime rind, reducing until almost dry.

2. At the very end, add the veal stock and strain the sauce.

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CHEF’S TIPS     

1. Ensure that the duck is room temperature and the pan is cold; warming the duck breast slowly ensures a slow melting of the fat.

2. The rendered duck fat is gold! Save it and use it as a cooking medium for other dishes, or to cook potatoes in another time.

3. Cooking the potatoes with peel preserves the most flavor.

4. If no veal stock is available, beef, chicken, or duck stock could be used as an alternative.

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