Duck Breast with Muscadine Juice and Goat Cheese Polenta

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Lissette Rodriguez – Culinary Arts Student
The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of California – Los Angeles

Servings: 4

Duck Breast Ingredients

4 duck breasts, with skin

pinch of oil

Duck Breast Preparation

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
2. Cut skin, with cross-hatch marks using a boning knife.
3. Heat sauté pan. Add pinch of oil so that the duck does not stick to the pan, keeping in mind that there will be a lot of fat rendered from the skin.
4. Place duck breast skin down, and lower heat, rendering the fat from the skin of the duck.
5. As the fat accumulates in the pan, dispose of it appropriately and continue to render fat until the skin is half the size it was.
6. Flip the duck breast over, skin-side up and finish cooking duck in the oven for approximately 5 minutes.
7. Take out of oven and re-heat.

Polenta Ingredients

1 qt milk

1 cup polenta

8 oz goat cheese

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

1/2 tsp butter

1/2 tsp oil

Polenta Preparation

1. Place milk into a saucepan. Bring milk to a gentle boil.
2. Add a pinch of salt and whisk in polenta.
3. Continue stirring until polenta thickens.
4. Reduce heat and cook slowly, for approximately 5 minutes.
5. Stir in cheese and oil, season to taste.
6. Place polenta into a 200 half sheet pan.
7. Cool polenta.
8. Put it in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap.
9. When chilled thoroughly, shape polenta by cutting out circles or squares with form.
10. Before service, sauté polenta with a touch of oil and butter in a sauté pan on both sides.

Muscadine Juice Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 oz duck bones, chopped

5 shallots, thinly sliced

1 rosemary sprig

1 1/2 cups Muscadine wine (Port wine)

2 cups duck stock

1/2 cup sugar (for gastrique)

1/2 cup cup champagne vinegar (for gastrique)

salt and pepper

Muscadine Juice Preparation

1. Place olive oil into hot pan.
2. Sauté bones until caramelized, then add shallots and rosemary, cook for approximately 2 minutes.
3. Turn off the flame. Add the wine and deglaze. Scrape the bottom of the sauté pan with a wooden spoon in order to get all the flavor particles from the pan into the sauce.
4. Reduce by half.
5. Add stock and simmer for 30 minutes.
6. Strain.
7. For gastrique, in a separate saucepan, cook sugar until light brown. Stir in vinegar, stir in wine mixture and simmer.
8. Reduce until sauce is thick, season.

To Serve

Warm plate. Spoon 2 oz of sauce in the middle of the plate, keeping the sauce contained in a circular way so that it will frame the round polenta disks. Place 4 oz of pre-formed, heated polenta in the middle of the plate. Slice duck at an angle and arrange on top of polenta, garnish with rosemary and serve.