Tag Archives: Home Cooked Heston

Home Cooked Heston Turns 1


MINI PULLED DUCK TACOS

First and foremost its Home Cooked Heston’s first birthday! Its been a whole year of blogging and I have been loving every bit of it seeing the amount of people who like and view my blog on a daily basis makes me want to cook bigger and better recipes for you guys to follow and try for your selves. I have branched out to Instagram: @homecookedheston and also on Facebook. Now for the recipe to celebrate……Mini duck tacos with picked topping.

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INGREDIENTS

– Duck Breast or Maryland

– 1 Packet of Wonton or Goyza Wrappers

– 4 Tbsp Salt

– 2 Tbsp Chinese Five Spice

– Peel from 1 Orange

– 2 Slices of Orange

– 4 Juniper Berrie

– 1 Bayleaf

– 1 Carrot

– 1 Cucumber

– Vinegar to Coat

– 3 Tbsp of Sugar

– 1 Tbsp of Coriander, Finely Chopped

METHOD

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First set up the Sousvide and set to a temperature of 75ºC. Combine the salt, Chinese five spice and orange peel into a small bowl and mix to combine. place the sliced orange bayleaf and juniper berries into a vacpack bag. In a hot pan sear the duck skin until it turns golden brown then remove from the heat and place on a tray. Next you want to rub the seasoned salt into the skin and place into the vacpack bag and seal. Place the vacpacked duck into the SousVide for a minimum of 8 hours.

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In the last half hour of cooking you want to Julienne the carrot and cucumber and place them and the coriander into a small bowl and coat with the vinegar. Place the sugar into the bowl and stir until dissolved, cover in plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Next in a small saucepan fill with about 3cm (1 inch) of your favourite frying oil. Next place one wonton wrapper on a spatula half on and tuck the other half under, folding in half. Dip into the oil for 10 seconds or until golden brown. Transfer to a plate, grab the side you just cooked with tongs and dip into the oil again. Leave on some paper towel to drain and repeat for as many tacos as you desire.

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When the duck is ready remove from the vacpack bag and remove all the meat you can from the bones and shred with two forks. Drain the vinegar and discard. To assemble, place some pulled duck into the bottom of the taco shell and place some picked salad on top. To garnish finish with a coriander leaf and enjoy. As I was cooking for three of us I decided to use some soft taco shells too to make it a bit more filling.

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The boys over at Mane Liquor recommend a cold crisp Bridge Road Enigma Hopped Pilsner or a Mikkeller American Dream

Duck Confit With Beetroot, Potato And Bitter Greens Salad


DUCK CONFIT WITH BEETROOT, POTATO AND BITTER GREENS SALAD

My local Market (Swansea Market) have decided to start stocking duck. I don’t use it much (which has to change by the way) so when I saw this I was quite ecstatic. With three large duck breasts bought I decided I wanted to give duck confit a go. For the first part of this recipe I used the ingredients  for curing from “Heston at Home by Heston Blumenthal”. After that I cooked and combined the remaining ingredients on my own as Heston’s recipe is very involved so I shortened it. This will go on the frequent list in our house, I hope it becomes a frequent one for you too.

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INGREDIENTS

FOR THE DUCK

– Duck Legs (breasts attached)

– 4 Star Anise

– 3 Juniper Berries

– 1 Cinnamon Stick

– 3 Black Peppercorns

– 2 Bay Leaves

– Sprig of Thyme

– Zest of ½ an Lemon

– Zest of ½ an Orange

– 60g Salt

– 500g Duck or Goose Fat

– Bitter Leaf Lettuce

– 2 Whole Beetroot, Thickly Sliced

– 2 Potatoes, Thickly Sliced

– Sunflower Shoots (optional)

FOR THE SHERRY VINAIGRETTE

– 2 Tbsp Sherry Vinegar

– 1 Tbsp Good Quality Olive Oil

– Salt & Pepper

METHOD

 To make this you will need to prepare the duck in advance. Place all the star anise, juniper berries, cinnamon, peppercorns and bay leaves onto a tray lined with baking paper and place into a preheated oven at 180ºC for about 5 minutes or until aromatic. Next you will need a mini food processor or mortar and pestle to grind these ingredients down. Place the ground ingredients into a large bowl along with the thyme, lemon zest, orange zest and salt. Mix to combine. Place the duck in the bowl to coat well and then place in a tight container into the fridge to rest over night.

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To start the following day, first preheat the oven to 150ºC. Remove ducks from container lightly was the salt off, pat dry and place into a very snug baking dish. Place duck fat either in the microwave or in a small saucepan on the stove and heat unit the fat has warmed through. Pour the fat into the dish until the duck is fully submerged then place into the oven for 1 to 1½ hours.IMG_8735IMG_8734

Once cooked you can either let it sit until it has come to room temperature and place in the fridge overnight or if you impatient like me carve the meat off the bone and slice into bit size pieces. If you decide the latter place the beetroot and potatoes into the oven until cooked through about 30 minutes. Lastly combine vinaigrette ingredients into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Place the greens, potatoes and beetroot in next and toss the salad to combine all ingredients. to plate place some salad in the center then the duck meat on top. Place the sunflower shoots on top to garnish and enjoy.

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MANE Liquor recommend either The BrewDog Magic Stone Dog or the Cavalier Brown Ale

BrewDog / Stone / Magic Rock Magic Stone DogCavalier Brown

Adapted from “Heston at Home by Heston Blumenthal”