Duck Breasts On White Beans With Dandelion Greens Recipes

CHEF ANNE'S CHEATER'S DUCK CONFIT & BITTER GREENS

Steps:

• Season the duck legs generously with salt. Coat a roasting pan lightly with olive oil and lay the duck legs skin side down in a single layer. Put the pan on the stove and bring to medium heat. Cook the legs until the fat slowly begins to melt. This will take 20 to 30 minutes and you don't want to rush it-this part of the process is worth the effort! When a decent amount of fat has been rendered, about 1/2 inch, raise the heat and brown the legs on both sides. Once browned, remove them from the pan and reserve. Yum! Doesn't this smell good?
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Add the onions to the fat in the pan, season generously with salt, and stir to coat; cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste to make sure they're well seasoned and add salt if needed.
• Return the duck legs to the pan and snuggle them in with all the onions. Add the wine, thyme bundle, and bay leaves and cover the pan with foil.
• Put the pan in the oven and cook for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so to be sure the onions aren't burning. When the duck is done it should be incredibly flavorful, tender, and almost falling off the bone.
• In a large bowl, combine the greens with some red wine vinegar, a bit of salt, a nice drizzle of the warm duck fat from the pan, and some of the caramelized onions. To serve, place a large mound of the dressed dandelion greens on a plate, lay a duck leg on the greens, and top with a few more onions.
• Confit is a classic way of preserving food, most commonly used with duck. It's when you cook something in its own fat and then store it in the fat. Confit is SOOOOO good! It's luscious and rustic; think of it as fancy comfort food.
• To make traditional confit you cure the meat overnight with salt and shallots, cook it to render the fat, and then store it in its own fat.
• To make my "cheater's" confit, you render the duck fat low and slow-don't rush it! You want to melt as much fat off of the duck legs as possible. Then you caramelize lots of onions in the duck fat, toss in a bunch of white wine, thyme, and bay leaves, and braise the duck with the onions and the fat. It's hugely flavorful and a lot faster than classic confit.
• If you have any lovely duck fat left over, youil want to use it to make my killer crispy crunchy duck fat potatoes (page 219).

DUCK BREASTS ON WHITE BEANS WITH DANDELION GREENS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a Dutch oven, cook the sausage in oil over medium heat until browned, about 7 minutes; add carrot and cook until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
• Add the onion and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom, until they soften, 2 to 3 minutes; add garlic, cook until fragrant, 3 minutes.
• Add the dried beans, water, and bay leaf and bring to a simmer; cover tightly and place in oven for 1 hour, stirring occasionally,
• After an hour, add the salt, stir, and continue cooking until beans are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Add water, if necessary, 1/4 cup at a time.
• Remove bay leaf and discard; taste and adjust seasoning.
• NOTE: Dish can be prepared up to this point a day ahead and refrigerated.
• Prepare the dandelion greens by chopping into 1-inch pieces, discarding larger stems; you should have 3 to 4 cups.
• Meanwhile, prepare the duck: Grind the salt, cloves, and peppercorns to a fine powder; score the breasts by slicing a cross-hatch pattern through the skin, but not into the flesh.
• Season the breasts on both sides with the spice mixture making sure to use most of it on the skin side inside the cross-hatches.
• NOTE: At this point you can wrap the breasts tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a day in advance. Bring to room temperature before proceeding.
• Heat oil in a heavy skillet, over medium-high heat, pat the skin side of the breasts dry with paper towels, and sear the breasts, skin side down, until deep, golden brown, pressing down with a spatula from time to time, 4 to 5 minutes (in batches if necessary).
• Turn breasts over, reduce heat to medium, and cook until medium-rare in the center, 3 to 5 minutes more.
• Remove breasts to rest on a cutting surface for 5 minutes before slicing into thick slices, on the bias.
• While the breasts are cooking, reheat the beans, adding water if necessary, to achieve a risotto-like texture, and add dandelion greens; cook, covered, until greens soften, about 5 minutes.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper, if necessary, and red wine vinegar to taste.
• To serve: Spoon 3/4 to 1 cup of the beans onto a serving plate and top with a sliced duck breast.
• You will have some beans left over for another meal.