Roasted Duck With Licorice Merlot Sauce

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 12 kumquats, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1 1/2 cups dry red wine, such as merlot
• 1/4 cup chicken stock or 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 8 small black jelly beans
• 2 lbs celery root (quartered, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks)
• 1 large idaho potato, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
• salt
• 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon imported hazelnut oil
• fresh ground pepper
• 6 large muscovy duck breasts, with skin (about 1/2 pound each)

Recipe

• 1 .in a medium saucepan, simmer the honey over moderate heat for 1 minute. add the kumquats and cook until softened, about 3 minutes.
• 2 strain the honey into a medium saucepan; reserve the kumquats separately.
• 3 add the wine and chicken stock to the honey and cook over moderate heat until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes.
• 4 add the jelly beans, remove the saucepan from the heat and let stand until the sauce has a nice licorice flavor, about 5 minutes. discard the jelly beans.
• 5 preheat the oven to 350°. in a large saucepan, cover the celery root and potato chunks with water and add 1 teaspoon of salt.
• 6 boil over moderately high heat until tender, about 30 minutes. drain the vegetables; return them to the saucepan and shake over high heat to dry out.
• 7 transfer the celery root and potato to a food processor and puree until smooth. wipe out the saucepan and return the puree to it. stir in 3 tablespoons of the butter and the hazelnut oil.
• 8 season with salt and pepper, cover and keep warm.
• 9 heat a large skillet. using a sharp knife, score the duck breast skin in a cross-hatch pattern.
• 10 season the breasts with salt and pepper and add 3 to the skillet, skin side down. cook over moderate heat until the skin is deep brown and crisp, about 5 minutes; spoon off the fat once or twice.
• 11 turn the breasts and cook until browned on the bottom, about 2 minutes. transfer the breasts to a baking sheet, skin side down, pour off the fat from the skillet and repeat with the remaining breasts.
• 12 bake the duck in the oven for about 6 minutes, or until medium rare. transfer to a carving board, skin side up, cover loosely with foil and let rest for 5 minutes.
• 13 bring the licorice sauce just to a boil. remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter; season with salt and pepper.
• 14 thinly slice the duck breasts crosswise and arrange the slices on 8 large plates.
• 15 spoon the licorice sauce over the duck and top with the honeyed kumquats. spoon the celery root puree alongside the duck and serve.