Sous - vide Duck Breast with Lentils
Ingredients:
2 duck breasts with skin
200 ml of duck or chicken stock
1 medium onion
2x 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup black beluga lentils
salt (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)
Tools:
Vacuum sealer or ziplock bag
Sous-vide cooker
Cast iron pan or stainless steel pan
Blow torch (optional)
Instructions:
First, prepare your meat. If you get a duck with a breast bone, you need to separate the meat from it.
If the breasts are joined together still, cut them, so you get nice two pieces of duck breasts. Also, make small incisions on the skin to release more fat and infuse the meat with flavor. About three is enough because we will cut the skin once more before searing.
If you are left with a chest bone, make a broth out of it. Please place it in cold salted water in a pot, so the bones are submerged entirely and bring to boil. Boil for 2 hrs.
Salt the meat properly and add grounded pepper. Place the meat into a vacuum seal bag. You can also add some herbs like rosemary or thyme and vacuum it. If you don’t have the vacuum sealer, you can use a Ziploc bag, which you will slowly dip in the water to press out the air and seal it.
Let the moist from the meat dissolve and infuse, so keep the best in the fridge for at least an hour. You can prepare the breasts and vacuum them up to two days earlier, as vacuum sealing keeps the meat fresh for longer.
Then two hours before you plan to serve, set up your sous-vide cooker, submerge the bags of meat and set up the cooking temperature for 58 degrees celsius, and cook time for 1 hr 40 mins.
Then to lentils.
Wash the lentils under the running water and strain. Cut your onion into small cubes; chop the parsley and garlic cloves.
Heat up a smaller pot with 1 tbsp of olive oil and glaze the onions in it. They should be soft, golden, and nicely aromatic. Then add the lentils and let them get glazed also. Pour the duck or chicken broth over, add the garlic and let it cook covered until softer but still keeping a little crunch. If you need to add a little bit of broth or water, do it. If you had too much, let it evaporate. Once done, you can stir in the chopped parsley, add more salt or pepper if needed.
Once the duck is done, take it out of the bag, pat dry with a paper towel, and cut the skin like the picture shows.
Heat up your cast-iron skillet with the other tbsp of olive oil. Place the duck on the pan, skin down first, and start searing. The breast will release more fat but don’t worry, and the juices are still there. Move it around a little and then flip to the other side. Once both sides brown nicely in approx 3-5 mins, you can also sear the sides. You can also sear the skin with a blow torch in case you want more brownness
When done, cut the duck breast on thin slices and serve laying on top of the lentils.