Good any day of the year, including New Year's!
This is an all time, Nigella Lawson, favourite dish of mine since it appeared in Bon Appétit in January 2007 . Alas I can't find the recipe anywhere online so will put it in my own words with my own twists!!
For the Muscat Marinated Duck (for 4)
1 1⁄2 cups muscat or other sweet wine
1 1⁄4 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)
4 scallions, sliced
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 small or 2 large duck breasts
Salt & Pepper
3 Tbsp butter
Juice of an orange
Combine wine, stock, scallions, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and Dijon into a large ziploc bag, add the duck breasts and refrigerate 30 mins to 2 hours.
At this point I must confess that instead of putting the bag in the fridge, I put it into a Sous Vide bath for 4 hrs at 55°C/131°F to get the duck absolutely, perfectly cooked and pink on the inside. After marinating in the fridge, remove the duck breast from the bag, saving all the juices for the sauce, and score the fat
Heat a large skillet over medium/high heat.
Season the breast on both sides with salt and pepper and place, fat side down in skillet. Cook until skin is deep brown and the fat renders (about 5 minutes)
Lower the heat to medium and turn the breast over to cook meat-side-down for about 12 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 55°C/131°F.
If doing the sous vide method, you will score, season and render the fat in the same way, but only cook meat-side-down for 1-2 minutes, to add a little colour, as the duck is already perfectly cooked.Pour the reserved marinade into a saucepan, add butter and orange juice and boil away until sauce has reduced substantially. Keep a close eye as it can boil over very quickly. When the liquid has reduced at least by half, taste the sauce and make any flavour adjustments you see fit.
Slice the duck and drizzle with sauce and serve with........
New Year's Lentils
1 large onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 large celery stalks, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, peeled
5 slices chopped applewood smoked bacon (or whatever you have on hand)
3 small bay leaves
4 1/2 cups chicken stock (preferable homemade)
2 1/2 cups French green lentils
1/2 cup Muscat or other sweet wine
2 tsps grated orange peel
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground Allspice
Place onion, celery and garlic in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped (or just chop by hand)
Sauté the bacon in a large saucepan until brown. About 20 mins
Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender