Salt baking is fantastic. It’s really easy and creates a perfect-fit cooking jacket for your food. You can salt bake most meats and fish and The Hand and Flowers previously had salt baked potatoes on the menu. The salt baked duck comes out perfectly pink and has a wonderful gamey flavour. Serve it with some crisp fresh greens for a show-off dish that takes half an hour to cook
Serves: 2
Cooking Time: 40 mins
Ingredients
- 2 duck breasts, skin on
- 1 kg coarse salt
- 2 egg whites
- Bunch coriander, chopped, including stems
- Zest of a lemon
- 6 stems of tender stem broccoli
- 1 bok choy
- 1 purple carrot (chopped, julienne) – Botany Bay Farm Shop
- 2 banana shallots (chopped, julienne)
- Honey (2 tbs)
Method
Start by placing the duck breasts, skin side down, in a cold metal frying pan (non-stick is best). Turn the heat to medium and let the duck sizzle to render the fat in the skin, when the skin is crispy turn the breasts over and cook for 1 minute on the other side.
While the duck is cooking separate the egg whites and mix them with the salt. Add the zest of the lemon and the coriander to the salt and mix together. Cover the bottom of a roasting dish with 1cm of the salt mixture. Place the duck, skin side down, on the salt bed and cover the duck with the rest of the salt mixture, covering them entirely. Bake the duck for 15 mins at 230oC, then take it out of the oven and leave it for 10 minutes
While the duck is cooking, julienne the shallots and the carrot and separate the bok choy leaves. When the duck comes out of the over fry the carrot and onions together for 5 minutes, add the bok choy and honey (2 tbs) and cook for a further 5 minutes. Boil the broccoli for 4 minutes.
Keep the veg warm and crack open the salt crush of the duck. The salt will be hard and should peel away from the duck, wipe the duck breast if any salt remains on the flesh. Leave the duck to rest while you assemble the plate. Pick the bok choy leaves out of the pan and lay on a plate. Place the carrot and shallot mix on to the centre of the plate and lay over the broccoli stems. Slice the duck in to 4 or 5 chunks and arrange on the plate. Enjoy!
