duck – Cook and Drink

Duck with Garlic Thyme Sauce

18 December 2025

Breast of Duck (Margret de Canard) is often paired with sweet ingredients, such as figs and oranges. We love the combination of duck with a green pepper sauce, because the sharpness emphasises the natural sweetness of the duck meat. In this recipe we do something similar. The sauce with thyme and mustard is aromatic and a touch sharp, which is very nice with the duck. The grated garlic adds spiciness to the sauce, making the dish more complex and bold. Delicious when combined with the sweet and sour caponata and crunchy fried polenta.

Wine Pairing

To balance the flavours of the dish, we suggest a fruity, dry red wine, one with subtle tannins and lots of freshness. We enjoyed a glass of Nero d’Avola, made in Sicily. The unoaked wine had a ruby red colour and aromas of cherries and plum. Serving the wine slightly chilled (meaning 15°C or 16°C (59°F or 61°F)) enhanced the freshness, acidity and fruitiness of the wine.

What You Need

1 Breast of Duck
Thyme
Chicken Stock
Garlic
Mustard
Crème Fraîche
½ grated clove Garlic
Black Pepper
To serve with the Duck
- Caponata
- Polenta (fried)

What You Do

Check the breast for remainders of feathers
Remove the vein on the meat side of the breast (and other bits you don’t like)
Place on a dish, cover with foil and transfer to the refrigerator
Leave in the refrigerator for one hour, making sure it’s nice, firm and cold
Fry the duck in a hot, non-sticky skillet for 10-12 minutes on the skin side. Reduce the heat after a few minutes. You don’t need oil or butter, the ducks fat will do the trick
Now fry for 2-3 minutes on the meat side and remove
Cover with aluminum foil in such a way that the crispy skin is not covered. The foil should only cover the meat
Remove most of the fat from the pan, but not all
Add chicken stock and thyme
Deglaze the pan
Start building the sauce by adding juices from the duck
Add mustard. This will not only add complexity and sharpness to the sauce, it will also make it thicker
Add crème fraîche
Add stock, mustard and crème fraîche to taste
After 10 – 15 minutes add grated garlic, this will give a boost to the sauce
Slice the duck (we like fairly big slices; you may prefer thinner ones)
Add the last juices to the sauce and serve the duck with the sauce, caponata and fried polenta

Duck with Garlic Thyme Sauce ©cadwu served with caponata and polenta — Duck with Garlic Thyme Sauce ©cadwu

Shiitake Salad

8 August 2024

We love mushrooms and are always keen to explore new recipes and ideas. This recipe for a salad is very much about the nutty flavour and the moist texture of the shiitake. An easy to make and delicious, aromatic salad with lots of umami and citrus.
We used Grains of Paradise (also known as Maniguette or Awisa). This West African spice was introduced in Europe in the 14^th or 15^th century as a substitute for black pepper. We like its peppery, citrusy flavour.

Wine Pairing

The fish sauce brings briny, caramel-like flavours with obviously some fishiness. The cilantro is very present with notes of citrus and pepper. The result is an aromatic, umami rich salad, best enjoyed with a glass of Pinot Blanc. We decided to open a bottle produced by Dr. Loosen. The winery was founded over 200 years ago and is well known for its Riesling and other excellent wines from the German Mosel region. In general, you’re looking for a white wine that is fruity and easy to drink, with gently acidity and some minerality.

What You Need

150 grams of Shiitake
2 cloves of Garlic
Olive Oil
Rice Vinegar
Thai Fish Sauce
Grains Of Paradise (Maniguette) or Black Pepper and Lemon Juice
Cilantro (Coriander)
Smoked Breast of Duck

What You Do

Remove the stems of the shiitake (they are chewy and fibrous). If necessary, clean the caps with kitchen paper. Slice. Finely chop the garlic. Warm a heave iron skillet, add olive oil and gently fry the shiitake. After a few minutes add the garlic. Keep on medium/low heat for a few minutes. Combine olive oil, rice vinegar and fish sauce. Ground grains of paradise and add to the dressing. The grains of paradise can be replaced with freshly grounded black pepper and a few drops of lemon juice. Taste the dressing and adjust. Add the shiitake to the dressing and mix. Allow to cool somewhat. Add a generous amount of chopped cilantro. Mix again. Garnish with slices of smoked duck breast.

PS

More mushroom recipes on our mushroom page.

Cèpes, Lentils and Duck

23 November 2023

Let’s celebrate the season by preparing a very simple, tasty starter with cèpes, the all-time favourite mushroom of many people. It is great when fried in olive oil with garlic and parsley, wonderful in a risotto and equally tasty when prepared à la Bordelaise. This starter is a bit more complex. It combines the nutty, rustic flavour of lentils with the fatty richness of foie gras and smokiness. The dish is a true appetizer.

Wine Pairing

We would suggest a white wine with some floral notes and only a touch of sweetness. A pinot gris or perhaps a gewürztraminer? Sweetness will go very well with the foie gras and the smoked duck, but it’s not a great match with the cèpes.

We could also imagine opening a bottle of Arbois Savagnin 2018. This complex, white wine is made from the Savagnin grape and is produced in the far east of France, the Jura. It comes with aromas that will make you think of nuts, curry and even umami. When tasting it, you may think the wine is off, given it is slightly oxidized. In this case it’s a good thing. Enjoy the savoury, nutty taste of the wine in combination with the various flavours in the dish.

What You Need

150 grams of Cèpes
Du Puy Lentils (from Sabarot)
Smoked Breast of Duck
Terrine de Foie Gras de Canard
Neutral Oil (we used Avocado Oil)
Butter
Black Pepper

What You Do

Remove the smoked breast of duck from the refrigerator. Wash the lentils and cook for some 20 minutes. Drain and allow to cool. Add one or two teaspoons of oil, to coat the lentils and enhance their flavour. Add some black pepper. Clean the mushrooms and slice. Not too thin, the idea is to have a moist mushroom with a thin crust. Fry the mushrooms in butter. Plate up by making a circle of lentils and decorate with slices of smoked duck, cèpes and very thin slices of terrine.

PS

Avocado oil seems a bit exotic, but actually it has a very high smoking point so it’s great for frying and baking. When used in a salad, you will notice the oil is light and fresh.

Bistro Cooking

5 October 2023

Recently we reviewed Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells as part of the ongoing cookbook review project by Bernadette. The book made us think about a lunch we enjoyed years ago in Paris. It was a nice small bistro in a small street, off centre, 15^th arrondissement, nothing fancy and not a Michelin star in sight. We entered the restaurant and ordered today’s dish, the plat du jour. It turned out to be a generous helping of lentils with two fried sausages, mashed potatoes and mustard. A beer worked beautifully with it. After having enjoyed our lunch, we talked about the joy of good food, French mustard and the beauty of lentils. Time for coffee.

It’s the kind of dish you would expect in a book called Bistro Cooking by. In the book we found two recipes with lentils, one salad and one soup with smoked sausages, the delicious Montbéliard.

Salad

When going through the index we spotted a recipe for a salad with squid, tomatoes, thyme and red wine vinegar. Unfortunately, our fish monger is on holiday, so we had to use pre-cooked octopus as an alternative. The salad is colourful, tasty and uplifting. A great starter, especially when enjoyed with a glass of rosé.

Flo

For many years Brasserie Flo was not only the name of an excellent brasserie in Paris, it was also a chain of restaurants in Nice, Metz, Barcelona and of course Paris (Julien, Terminus Nord, La Coupole and many more). In 2018 the original Brasserie Flo was renamed Floderer, after one of its founders.

One of the recipes in Bistro Cooking is called Brasserie Flo’s Roast Duck. The name caught our attention and we decided to prepare it. The main ingredient is a whole duck, roasted in the oven. A bit too much for the two of us so we decided to combine the vegetable sauce with pan fried breast of duck. We expected the sauce to be fairly simple (tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, Herbes de Provence) but the result was delicious and a great accompaniment of the duck.

Patricia Wells serves her duck with a glass of Julienas, a cru from the Beaujolais. Very good choice. We opened a bottle of Gamay made by Domaine La Tour Beaumont from the Loire region.

The Book

Bistro Cooking includes pictures of typical Bistro scenes showing waiters serving food, people reading their paper and enjoying a small coffee or guests sitting on a small terrace drinking an aperitif while chatting with friends. The pictures illustrate the typical bistro atmosphere and show France like it was and sometimes, if you’re lucky, still is.
All recipes benefit from a nice introduction, discussing the origin of the recipe or one of the ingredients.

Both recipes can be found on Bernadette’s New Classic Recipe.

Bistro cooking is available via your local bookstore or the usual channels for 25 Euro or US dollar.

Bitter Orange

16 January 2023

One of our favourite dishes is Duck Breast with Orange Sauce. Not difficult to make and the result is always tasty. Use a combination of fresh orange juice, thyme, rosemary, butter, Mandarine Napoléon, Cointreau, chicken stock and/or orange peel to make a tasty, not to sweet sauce. Mandarine Napoléon is preferred because it gives bitterness and depth to the sauce. The juicy meat, the sweetness of the duck and the orange, the nice aromas, the herbs and the velvety mouthfeel of the sauce make this an excellent combination.

Last week we were lucky, very lucky when we spotted Orange Amère on our local market. Bitter Orange! Also known as Seville Orange, Bigarade Orange or Pomerans. Finally! The ideal ingredient to make Orange Curd, Marmalade and of course Orange Sauce.

We bought a handful and as soon as we were at home, we wanted to taste it. The Bitter Orange does not contain much juice, their seize is similar to that of a clementine and the seeds are relatively big. The taste is sweet and gentle at first, and then you have bitterness, some astringency and length. Wow! We rushed to our butcher, bought an excellent magret de canard and later enjoyed a perfect Duck Breast with Orange Sauce.

Bitter Oranges are normally available from late December until the end of February. Ask your greengrocer!

Our suggestions: Duck Breast with Orange Sauce and Orange Curd.

Bitter Orange ©cadwu
Duck Breast with Bitter Orange Sauce ©cadwu

Confit of Duck: a home made alternative

3 March 2022

The traditional way of making Confit of Duck is not complex. It’s a bit time consuming and it requires some planning, that’s all. The principle is to cure the meat in salt with various herbs (thyme, cumin, rosemary) and garlic. After 24 hours or so the duck is washed with water, patted dry and then slow cooked in goose or duck fat for several hours. When ready cool and store in fat.

We take a different approach by slow cooking the duck legs in olive oil. The result is remarkable: juicy, full of flavours and aromas, provided you use first class duck (label rouge for instance). If not, the meat can become dry and tough. Another benefit: we don’t cure the meat so it’s not salty at all.
We serve the confit with celeriac mash. It’s light, nutty and refreshing compared to a mash made with potatoes.