Duck Pithivier
INGREDIENTS
12oz pie dough
18oz puff pastry
PIE DOUGH
9oz all-purpose flour
4.5oz butter, cubed
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1-2 tbps. water
DUCK CONFIT
70oz duck legs
18oz duck fat
garlic head, crushed
1 tsp salt
3-4 thyme sprigs
STUFFING
16oz ground pork, or veal, or 50/50
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tbsp. cognac/brandy
1 egg
1/4 cup heavy cream
14-16 oz raw frozen foie gras
VEGGIES
3.5oz carrot
7oz mushrooms
2oz shallot, minced
1oz Italian parsley, chopped
7oz savoy cabbage, blanched and chopped
EGG WASH
1 eggs
1/2 egg yolk
1 tbsp water
DUCK SAUCE
1 oz duck fat
14+ oz duck/chicken bones
1 onion quartered
3-4 sprigs thyme
4-6 cloves garlic crushed
1 carrot, chopped
4 oz mushrooms trimmings
1 tbsp tomato paste
10 oz Madeira, or port wine
36 oz chicken stock
8 oz rendered juice from cooked duck confit
1 tbsp Madeira wine
1 tbsp corn starch
1-2 tbsp butter
INSTRUCTIONS
PIE DOUGH
Rub flour with salt, and cubed butter until mixture resemble coarse meal. Add the egg and water; mix until combined. Roll pastry between 2 pieces of parchment paper into a 1/4'' thick sheet; prick with a fork and chill to set. Before using, readjust the thickness and cut out into a 9.5'' disk; chill. Save leftover pastry for later use.
DUCK CONFIT
French duck legs; save knuckles for confit. Lay the legs flesh side up onto a shallow dish or baking tray. Sprinkle salt, add crushed garlic and thyme. Wrap up and massage it. Refrigerated for 12 to 24 hours. Marinading duck legs in salt tenderized the meat. Rinse duck legs and pat dry. Place duck legs in a shallow dish or large skillet. Cover with hot duck fat. Cover with parchment and foil or lid. Pop in the oven and confit duck legs for 3 hours at 275ºF. Remove from the oven and let it stand on the stove for an hour. Transfer duck confit onto a wire rack to drain. Save duck fat and chill; some gelatinous and flavorful brown duck jus will form at the bottom; save it for the duck sauce. Shred the meat off duck confit. Save bones for the sauce. Discard small bones, cartilage, and leftover skin. Reserve duck meat for the montage.
VEGGIES
Mince shallots. Wash, pat dry, and chop parsley. Peel, wash and cut carrots into brunoise and blanch them for a minute. Remove stem from cabbage, blanch for a few minutes, drain and pat dry. Save large leaves for the pie, and chop some for the stuffing. Clean, trim, and chop mushrooms. In a hot pan, sauté mushrooms for 5 min with a tablespoon of duck fat. Add shallots, season with salt and pepper, and continue to cook for 3 min. Add carrots, parsley, and cabbage; cool.
STUFFING
Mix ground pork or veal. Save duck bones for the sauce. Grind meat using the larger hole-size meat plate. Season with salt, pepper, Cognac, egg and cream. *Foie gras can be subbed for chicken or duck livers. If so, clean livers and marinade with a drizzle of Cognac. Quickly sauté in a hot pan with some duck fat – season with salt and pepper; set aside. Foie gras must be frozen, and small pieces must be avoided. Mark with a knife, season with salt, and sear 30 sec on both sides in a hot pan (No extra fat needed).
MONTAGE
Oil and line a 7.25'' diameter bowl with plastic wrap in contact. Alternate layers of meat stuffing, veggies, and duck confit. Place the frozen foie gras or livers (Not frozen) in the center, add more veggies, duck confit, and seal with more stuffing. Cover with plastic wrap and chill. Meanwhile, roll out puff pastry into a large 14''x14'' and 1/4''sheet, and chill. Lay the pie dough disk onto a baking tray lined with a silicon mat or parchment paper. Moisturize the border with water (Avoid egg wash). Flip and de-mold stuffing on the crust, and wrap with cabbage greens. Enclose with the puff pastry. Gently press down the dough over the dome, chasing air out. Trim off excess dough. Save pastry for later use. Make a small hole (chimney) in the center using a plain pastry tip. Surround with a small round of puff pastry. Egg wash and place the greased pastry tip back inside the chimney; this allows steam to escape during cooking. Egg wash pithivier and chill for 10 min. Egg wash again, decorate with spiral lines drawn from the top outwards with the point of a knife, and scallop the edges. Chill the pie for 2 hours before baking.
DUCK SAUCE
Roast duck bones in some duck fat. Add onions, carrots, garlic and cook for 10 min. Add tomato paste and herbs and cook for 3 min. Add Madeira and reduce to two-thirds. Add chicken stock and cook on low for about an hour. Sieve, add duck jus (saved from the duck confit fat). Cook on a low simmer until it reduces to 0.5 qt. Skim off impurities and excess fat. Mix 1 tbsp. Madera with 1 tbsp. cornstarch, swirl in duck sauce, and cook for 2 min. Lastly, whisk in butter and readjust the seasoning to taste. Serve hot.
BAKING PITHIVIER
The use of a pizza stone is recommended. Preheat oven to 420ºF. Bake pithivier for 35/40 min. If using a convection oven, bake at 375ºF. Let pithivier rest 20 minutes before slicing. Serve with the hot duck sauce.
