Warm Duck Salad with Chestnut, Orange and Pear

I’m so honored to have been selected for Battle 16 over at Foodie Fights! A battle of creativity, imagination and obscure ingredients? Count me in!!

The basis of many “food battles” seen on the ultra-macho reality shows cropping up daily include one or more secret ingredients. Outwardly incongruous things like raspberries and goose fat, or brussels sprouts and wheat cereal.

These are often my favorite shows, especially old-school Iron Chef competitions. I love the drama of it all, the quickness and innovation. Chefs act as composers, taking discordant notes and (if we’re lucky) blending it into a harmonious melody of  good taste.

So this was my time to jump from spectator to participant. My mission? A battle of chestnuts and kumquats, whoopie!

Chestnuts are an unknown territory for me. You all know the song…”blah blah roasting on a yada yada yada.” That was my only experience with them, up until last weekend. Were they sweet? Spicy? Nutty? What was the texture like? A walnut? A fig? So many questions!

I decided to skip roasting my own chestnuts, opting instead to purchase two different pre-roasted versions. Little did I know…that’s a lot of nuts. The canned yielded enough for four servings, plus experimentation beforehand AND there are some left over. Which is good, because it turns out that I looove chestnuts. Loooooove them.

[Photo by Flickr User ClayIrving]

Kumquats, I adore, but have never eaten in any other way than my usual – quickly popped in the mouth, raw with skins and seeds in all, too quickly. It’s the only way.

If I was still in New Jersey, I could have found them at a few different fancypants stores near my house (typically Whole Paycheck or perhaps Wegmans). But in London, that’s a bit more difficult. I walk everywhere or rely on public transport, carrying my groceries home with me in a fabric bag. But I was determined to find those little citrusy gems! I must indulge!

But sadly, after searching through four grocery stores and two open produce markets to no avail, it was time to make some compromises.

Nick from Foodie Fights sent us a message after a few contestants seemed to experience my same problem: “If for some reason you just can’t find kumquats, feel free to substitute something. Something citrusy would probably be the best fit… so maybe limes, oranges, or something like that.“

Boo.

I settled for fresh oranges and this delightfully chunky marmalade containing Valencia oranges and kumquats. And so it goes…

I love the idea of this salad, which plays with textures and flavors in a way that I have not tried before. Slices of crunchy duck settle over a mixture of caramelized fruits and chestnut, paired with refreshingly sharp greens to cut through the richness.

My inspiration was the classic duck a l’orange, which just works. Turning it into a salad seemed natural, though it’s the most indulgent salad I’ve ever had in my life. The nuttiness of the chestnuts, aligned with the almost tart flavor of citrus and juice, takes it to the next level.

It is succulent, full-bodied, bouncing between juicy and sweet to salty and savory with each bite.

My roommate asked for seconds. And so we made it twice, giggling all the way. I was all too happy to oblige.

Lessons Learned:

1. I am beginning to enjoy (just a bit!) eating and cooking meat, for myself and others. This is a change, but I’m embracing it for now. My guilt as a former vegetarian/vegan still stands, but it’s all part of experiencing and learning about all types of food. How else am I going to work for Saveur some day?
2. If you are not watching, you can potentially fill your kitchen with smoke, alarming your landlady. This situation can be defused by giving her some of this delicious delicious meal.
3. Duck exudes a LOT of fat when you cook it. It will also spit this hot fat at you, if you carelessly leave your heat too high. Don’t do that.
4. This is definitely what Cookie Monster would call a “sometimes food.”
5. [EDIT] If you suddenly make duck, after only recently switching from years of vegetarianism, your family and friends are going to be slightly…bewildered. Expect many emails consisting of “um, what?!” and similar sentiments, like I’ve just received. I’m sorry if it seems like I’m betraying my herbivore friends here, but I’m really not. Please stop yelling at me over email. I know what I’ve done. :p

Warm Duck Salad with Chestnut, Orange and Pear

Ingredients:

2 free-range/local duck breasts

sea salt and black pepper

thyme

2-3 tbsp pomegranate juice or juice from fresh raspberries

3 tbsp chunky orange marmelade

1 pear, thinly sliced into matchsticks

1 cup cooked chestnuts, halved

balsamic vinegar

watercress salad

Optional: (if you can find them) 6 kumquats, deseeded and halved.

Directions:

Score the fatty skin of the duck breasts and season well with salt and pepper. Heat a very large, very heavy skillet and place breasts in the pan, skin side down. Cook until the fat seeps out of the skin (you will see it in the pan), then sprinkle with thyme and lower the heat. Continue to cook for 10-15 minutes until the skin is very crisp and brown. Then turn over and cook for four-five minutes on other side.

While the breasts are cooking, work on the fruit saute. In another frying pan, heat the juice and marmalade until bubbling. Add chestnuts and stir, cooking over a low low heat until reduced to a thick sauce.

Once duck is finished cooking, remove from pan and set aside on a plate to rest. Deglaze the pan with balsamic vinegar, taking sure to get all the delicious bits from the bottom of the pan. Reducing slightly, then pour into the fruit mixture.

In that pan, stir fruits and duck fat together over a low heat. Reserve a few fresh pear slices and set aside. Add remaining pears and fresh kumquats (if using), stirring until lightly caramelized.

When everything is ready, it’s time to assemble.

Wash watercress greens and toss with any leftover fresh pear slices. Add a squeeze of fresh orange juice or leave undressed as we did.

Pile greens into the center of your plate. Spoon chestnut and fruit mixture in the middle, reserving some juice. Slice duck thinly and balance on top. Drizzle a spoonful of fruit and balsamic reduction over the entire salad (get artsy, dude!). Season with salt and pepper.

Doesn’t that just look…scrumptious? I do say, YES. And it WAS!

Psst. If you like this recipe, please please vote for me! :)

All the other entries are really really good, so I suggest you check them out here. Bravo to my fellow competitors!