Magret de Canard à l'Orange/Duck in Orange Sauce

Canard à l'Orange

The Dutchess arrived in a red car in her red coat and Lotus Red lipstick. With her Sonny boy and giant of a husband at her heels. But more importantly, she brought along her offering of Kueh Lapis and other gifts, the former as I understood, baked with love and as such tasting of it.

J's Yummy Kueh Lapis

I wish I had been more organised and could welcome her in style. But I had to be in my dirty apron and was halfway through my fried potatoes...

People may wonder why I wanted to receive a stranger in my home - but then how could someone whose blog I have been following for a few months now be a total stranger? Our blogs are our public diaries and I knew even as I read her that we would probably get along quite fine. And my 6th sense has rarely failed me, if you wish.

So the Dutchess is in person truly as elegant and gracious as her blog, and her funny bone she brings it with her wherever she goes. It was my honour that she should get so excited when she saw duck in the kitchen, "Is that duck? Are we going to eat duck?" - for I certainly did put duck on the menu on her account. Quack quack. The recipe is for you, J.

Orange Sauce

Magret de Canard à l'Orange :

Duck Magret (breasts)

Red Onions

4-5 Oranges (about 250ml of orange juice + thinly-sliced zests)

100g Sugar

60ml White Wine Vinegar

30ml of Grand Marnier

40 ml White Wine

4 Tsps of Fond de Veau

Salt and Pepper

Prepare the magret by making cuts on the skin (but they must not reach the meat). Heat up a little oil in a non-stick pan and sweat the onions. Set them aside. Grill the magrets skin-side down in a hot pan for 8 minutes and then turn them over and grill them meat-side down for 3 minutes. That is for a pink duck. Do not throw away the duck fat, it can be used to fry potatoes in. Any blood/juice remaining on the plate where you place the ducks can also be recuperated to be added into the orange sauce later on.

In a non-stick sauce pan, caramelise the sugar on its own. Meaning heat up the sugar and watch it melt and turn into a golden brown liquid on its own. Then add in the vinegar and stir well. The caramel may harden upon contact with the vinegar but do not panic, lower the heat and the caramel will dissolve in the vinegar in no time. Add in the orange juice, Grand Marnier, white wine, stir from time to time till the sauce thickens and reduces in volume.

In another pan, heat up a little water and when it's boiling, put in the orange zests. Poach for a few minutes and then remove the zests and throw away the water. It's to clean the zests and remove their bitterness. Put the zests into the orange sauce.

Gratin de Chou Fleur

When the sauce has reduced by a third, add in 4 Tsps of Fond de Veau, stir well. Add salt and pepper to taste. I served the Duck Magret with some Pommes de Terre sautées à la salardaise (Fried Garlic and Parsley Potatoes) and a Gratin de Chou Fleur (Cauliflower Gratin).

Bruschetta

We started out with a platter of Tuscanian Cured Ham, Bolognese Mortadella Ham, Parmesan Cheese with Balsamic Vinegar, Bruschetta...downed with a bottle of White Chablis Wine from Burgundy.

Followed by Venus Clams in White Wine Garlic Sauce.

The Sons we didn't see much of them as they had disappeared into Eldest Son's room to play games on the PS2 and they seemed to get along quite well. The Babies hung around and kept aiming shots at the Dutchess with their guns, and I pretended I didn't see anything as she gamely suffered them. LOL

Tarte Tatin

For dessert, I made a simple favourite of the family : Tarte Tatin.

I must apologise for the long lunch, but that's the way a French meal will usually turn out - from noon till early evening. We did the European thing and went for a walk round the house before dessert - a first for me in Italy (paiseh). Had never seen the back part of my house from a distance before and didn't even know that there's a path all round linking the house to the neighbour's vineyards and fields. We ended the day with TV, yes, watching Ferrari win this year's Constructor and Pilot/Driver Titles. Quelle émotion!

Thank you J, for gracing my humble farm house with your presence. Hope that you'll enjoy the rest of your stay in the region and have a safe trip home at the end of the week. Hopefully your Hubby whose eyes I've seen all twinkling after his visit of the Ferrari factory will indeed prove to be credit card zappy and make your fetish shoe dreams come true :-).