Chefs Secrets
The Ernest SOULARD chef suggests the following videos to enable you to become an expert at:
Choosing and preparing your duck
Choosing and cooking your duck breast or fillet
Choosing and de-veining your foie gras
Cooking your frozen foie gras escalopes
How to choose your duck
Whatever the breed, choose a duck with tender flesh, with a thin, grainy, pale skin. For 6-8 people, select a duck weighing around 3kg.
How to joint a duck
- Slide a sharp knife between the thigh and the breast until you find the leg joint and cut.
- Repeat with the other side.
- Slide the knife along the breast bone, between the ribs and flesh to the wing joint, cut the joint.
- Repeat with the other side.
Choosing a duck portion
To select a fresh duck portion, attention must be paid to the colour, which should be dark red . Note that a lean duck (Barbary) will be a deeper red than that of a fat duck (Mulard).
How to cook a magret or a breast
- Gently score the skin both vertically and horizontally.
- Season to taste, skin side
- Leave to cook skin side down on a gentle heat for 5 minutes.
- Turn over the magrets / breasts.
- Re season
- Remove any excess fat.
- Leave to cook on a gentle heat for 6 minutes.
- Tip
- For an extra tender meat, leave the magrets or breasts to rest for 5 minutes in aluminium foil before serving and slicing lengthways. It is suggested that you gently re-season before serving.
How do you choose your foie gras ?
Choose a foie gras which has a uniform, creamy pink colour. Its texture should be firm to the touch.
De-veining your foie gras
- Separate the two halves of the foie gras.
- With the point of a knife free the vein found at the base and pull gently to remove as much as possible. Repeat for the smaller half of the liver.
- Do not try to remove all the smaller blood vessels as to do so will leave the foie gras shredded, reduced in size and likely to loose all the fat during cooking..
- Tip
- You may leave the foie gras to rest for between 1 to 3 hours in iced water. This is not strictly necessary but will help any remaining vessels to be re-absorbed back into the liver.
Cooking your frozen foie gras escalopes
- Season the escalopes to taste
- Cook one side for 3 minutes on a high heat
- Turn the escalope and season again
- Cover and cook the other side for 5 minutes on a gentle heat.
- When the escalopes are cooked to even colour serve immediately.
