Chef Erin Miller of Urban Hearth (urbanhearth.net) spills the beans on one must-cook recipe this season that will keep you coming back for more.
Chef Erin Miller was the first woman to win the Great American Seafood Cook-Off this summer—bringing another culinary victory to Massachusetts.
PAN-ROASTED DUCK BREAST WITH WILD MUSHROOM AND BARLEY RISOTTO WITH RED WINE SAUCE
Red Wine Sauce
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 leek, white only, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
20 ml of red wine
50 ml of red wine vinegar
100 ml of port
500 ml of brown chicken stock
Vegetable oil
1. Warm a medium-sized sauce pot over medium heat. Add enough oil to coat the pan, then add shallot, carrot, leek, garlic and celery.
2. Stir until vegetables are deeply caramelized.
3. Add rosemary, thyme, red wine, port and vinegar to the pot. Turn down heat to low and simmer until mixture is nearly dry.
4. Add chicken stock and reduce mixture by half.
5. Remove from heat, strain mixture through a fine sieve into a clean pan and continue reducing to sauce consistency.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Set aside.
Wild Mushroom and Barley Risotto
300 grams pearl barley
300 ml white wine
1.5 liters mushroom or vegetable broth
2 onions, small dice
4 shallots, small dice
2 garlic bulbs
50 grams dried wild mushrooms
175 grams butter
200 grams pecorino or Parmesan
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice the top off both garlic bulbs, exposing the cloves inside. Drizzle with olive oil and salt, wrap in aluminum foil and roast until they begin to caramelize and soft en, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.
3. While garlic is roasting, spread barley in a large sheet tray and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes to enhance the nutty flavor. Remove from the oven and cool.
4. Cover dried mushrooms with enough mushroom broth and allow to soak until mushrooms are soft , then roughly chop. Strain mushroom broth back into remaining broth.
5. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt the 150 grams of butter. Add the onions and sweat until translucent, stirring occasionally, about 10 to 15 minutes.
6. When onions are soft , add strained and chopped dried mushrooms. Stir until soft ened.
7. Squeeze roasted garlic cloves into mixture and continue cooking until soft and tender. Remove from heat. Transfer onion mixture to the canister of the blender or use an immersion blender to puree mixture thoroughly. Add a bit of the broth to the mixture if too thick. Set aside.
8. In the same heavy-bottomed pot, melt remaining butter.
9. Add the minced shallot and saute until tender.
10. Add toasted barley, stirring constantly until barley kernels begin to lighten in color.
11. Deglaze with white wine and add a liberal pinch of salt and pepper.
12. Cook over low-medium heat, stirring constantly until wine is absorbed.
13. Pour in a bit of the remaining broth, stirring constantly until liquid is absorbed.
14. Continue to pour in broth, a ladleful at a time until all barley is tender.
15. Pour in all of the onion puree and stir until incorporated. Barley should have a risotto-like consistency.
16. Add grated pecorino and additional salt and black pepper to taste.
17. Cover and set aside.
To prepare the duck breast and mushrooms
4 lobes of duck breast
300 grams wild mushrooms of your choice
1. Trim duck breast, removing tendon and silver skin from back and scoring skin in a cross-hatch pattern, being careful not to cut through fully to the flesh.
2. Season breasts liberally with salt and pepper.
3. Warm a heavy-bottomed skillet over low heat.
4. Place duck breast skin-side down in the warm skillet and cook slowly, rendering off the fat and crisping the skin.
5. When skin is crisped, flip breast over in pan and cook over medium heat for about 1 minute or until internal temperature of 130 degrees is reached.
6. Remove duck breast from pan, transferring to plate to rest. Heat rendered duck fat over medium-high heat.
7. Add fresh mushrooms and saute swiftly at high temperature so that the edges crisp but the mushroom retains its shape and texture.
8. Remove from heat, season and set aside.
To plate
1. Reheat wine sauce and barley as needed.
2. Slice duck breast on bias, taking care to preserve the crisp skin.
3. Ladle a generous spoon of barley into a shallow bowl.
4. Arrange duck slices on top with florets of sauteed mushroom.
5. Drizzle a generous spoon of red wine sauce over the duck and around the rim of the bowl.
6. Garnish with thinly sliced green onion.
Photography by: COURTESY OF URBAN HEARTH
