Taz Sarhane's mallard with pine nut sauce and boulangère potatoes

This recipe by Taz Sarhane, head chef of Michelin-starred Cycene, pairs the gamey flavour of wild duck with a nutty sauce, creating a toasted, warm dish. Paired with crisp boulangère potatoes, this is a hearty meal to be enjoyed by all. For a wine pairing, Sarhane recommends the Markus Altenburger, Blaufrankisch, 2018.

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the duck jus

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

• 250g chicken feet/wings
• 150g chicken carcass or necks
• 250g duck bones
• 100g onion
• 100g carrots
• ½ bulb garlic
• 1-2 stalks of celery
• 100g leeks

For the duck and boulangère potatoes

• 1 whole mallard
• 100g clarified butter
• 400g King Edward potatoes
• 250ml chicken stock
• 2–3 juniper berries
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• zest of ½ a lemon
• 1–2 sprigs thyme

For the pine nut sauce

• 15g pine nuts (roughly 1 tbsp)
• 2 tbsp freshly pressed apple juice
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tsp apple cider brandy
• just under 1 tsp Banyuls vinegar
• 1 tsp cocoa bean shoyu or white soy sauce
• 2 tsp honey
• small pinch of toasted fennel seeds (around ⅛ tsp or to taste)

Method

• To make the duck jus: preheat the oven to 200°C. Roast the chicken wings, chicken carcass and duck bones on a tray until golden brown – about 45–60 minutes –turning occasionally. At the same time, roast the vegetables in a large pan or tray with a little oil until caramelised – about 30–40 minutes. Transfer all roasted ingredients to a large pot. Add the chicken feet. Cover with cold water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, uncovered, for 4–6 hours, occasionally skimming off any scum or fat. Strain through a fine sieve. Return the strained liquid to the pot and reduce over medium heat until about 300–400ml of concentrated jus remains.
• Remove the legs from the mallard, and confit them (slow-cook at 92°C) in half of the clarified butter.
• Meanwhile, thinly slice the potatoes, and toss in the remaining clarified butter. Season with juniper, garlic, lemon and thyme.
• When the duck legs are cooked, shred the meat and put it in the base of a cast-iron skillet. Layer the potato slices on top. Pour on the chicken stock, then place the skillet in the oven to bake for 45 minutes at 170°C.
• Take the mallard out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.
• For the sauce, make brown butter by heating the butter in a warmed frying pan over a low heat, swirling the pan. It will bubble into a white foam then brown specks will appear on the base of the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes until deep golden colour with a nutty fragrance. Leave to cool. In a pan, combine the pine nuts, 4 tbsp of the duck jus and the apple juice. Simmer gently for about 20 minutes, until the pine nuts are very soft. Pour into a blender and blend while adding the brown butter.
• Add the apple cider brandy, vinegar, soy sauce and honey, and blend. Add the fennel seeds, leave to infuse for 20 minutes, then pass through a fine sieve. The sauce should now be smooth and glossy.
• Now, cook your mallard. My preferred method would be to barbecue it over cherry and applewood, but you can also cook it in a hot pan. Make sure you constantly rotate the bird for an evenly crisp skin. This should take around 5–10 minutes.
• Test the temperature with a skewer, it should be just warm. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
• The potatoes should now be ready to remove from the oven.
• Brush the duck with clarified butter from the confit, season, then carve. Serve with the pine-nut sauce and boulangère potatoes, accompanied by roasted carrots or kale.

Sign up for The Week's Food & Drink newsletter for recipes, reviews and recommendations.