Duck With 3 Peppercorn Sauce

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

This recipe is a hybrid of a recipe from the Cordon Bleu at home and  a
meal I had at Laurier sur Montcalm in Ottawa (a dining experience I
truly enjoyed). I will be scaling it back for dinner for two
(Valentines, after all). I'm not sure exactly how to describe some of
the steps but I'll try.  Start with fresh ducks. Remove breasts and
legs (this is very well  described in the Cordon Bleu at Home
cookbook). Bone out the thigh  bone and cut the end of the drumstick
(exposed portion off). Truss  the legs into a compact shape. Heat a
little oil in a saute pan and  brown the legs.  This is the part I'm
going to have trouble explaining. In the  presentation of the dish, you
will have the duck breast slices fanned  across the plate and the duck
leg coming at the front of the plate  with the bone sticking up on a 45
degree angle. Make sure that, when  you saute the duck leg, the initial
position the leg hits the pan is  the same as the final one you will
want on the plate. I haven't  actually tried this yet, it's only a
theory of mine, but it's how it  was served at Laurier sur Montcalm.
Once the legs are browned, roast  in a 375 degree oven until done to
your taste (I would think around  medium for the legs).  Score duck
breasts, season with salt and pepper and set aside. Heat  large frying
pan over medium heat until hot. Put duck breasts in,  skin side down
(the fat released will be sufficient to cook the  breasts) and cook
until skin is brown and crisp (2-3 minutes). Add  peppercorns, turn
breasts and continue cooking until medium rare  (about 6 minutes
longer). Discard fat from pan, add cognac and light  it. Once the
flames have subsided, remove the breasts (tent with  foil). Add stock
and deglaze. Cook over medium heat until liquid is  reduced by half.
Remove and whisk in butter. Slice the duck breasts  on the bias.  To
serve, I am going to prepare little potato pancakes (Pierre  Franey)
and some julienned vegetables. I will put the julienned  vegetables
under the pancakes on the side of the plate furthest away  from the
diner, just off center. Then I will put the duck leg, facing  the
diner, behind the pancakes and the breast slices fanned out over  the
pancakes. I will either spoon the sauce over the breasts or nap  the
plate with sauce before I build it up (I'm still deciding).  Posted to
FOODWINE Digest 14 Feb 97 by Romain Saha  <rsaha@CCMAIL.AIT.CA> on Feb
14, 1997.

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 1252
Calories From Fat: 521
Total Fat: 59g
Cholesterol: 336.4mg
Sodium: 533.8mg
Potassium: 5100.3mg
Carbohydrates: 135.2g
Fiber: 49.5g
Sugar: 69.7g
Protein: 69.5g