Recipe: a three-part duck feast from Farmhouse Tavern’s Alex Molitz
PREP TIME: 50 minutes
COOK TIME: 40 minutes
Serves 6
GINGERBREAD
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
⅔ lb fresh ginger
4 chicken eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
¾ cup brown sugar
CRISPY DUCK EGGS
1 handful of ice cubes
2 tsp white vinegar
6 duck eggs
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 chicken egg
½ cup panko
2-3 pinches salt
FOIE GRAS (OPTIONAL)
½ lb raw foie gras
2-3 pinches salt
6-12 slices duck prosciutto (see tip)
1-2 tbsp honey or compote
1. To prepare gingerbread, preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and dust with flour. In a bowl, stir 2 cups of flour with baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. Peel and chop ginger. Using a garlic press, squeeze juice from ginger. Strain any pulp. In a bowl, whisk ¼ cup of ginger juice with 4 chicken eggs. Add oil and sugar. Slowly whisk wet ingredients into dry mixture. Pour into pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and place on a rack to cool completely.
2. To prepare duck eggs, fill a bowl with cold water and ice cubes. Bring a large, wide pan partially filled with water to a boil. Stir in vinegar and salt. Crack a duck egg into a bowl. Gently slip it into the simmering water. Repeat with 5 more eggs. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until whites are cooked through and centres are very soft. Using a slotted spoon, remove each egg from pot and lower into ice water. Cool. Remove and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Place ¼ cup flour, 1 chicken egg and panko in 3 separate shallow bowls. Beat chicken egg. Gently roll each duck egg in flour, beaten egg and panko to evenly coat. Set aside. Pour 2 inches of vegetable oil into a large, deep pot. Bring to 350°F. Fry each egg for 2 to 4 minutes until golden. Using a heatproof slotted spoon, remove fried duck eggs, set on paper towels and gently pat dry. Sprinkle with salt.
4. Thickly slice and toast gingerbread. Slice foie gras into ½-inch-thick pieces. Set a frying pan over medium-high heat. Coat with oil. When hot, add foie gras, sprinkle with salt and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until seared and soft in the centre. Turn foie gras once during cooking.
5. Serve foie gras on gingerbread. Drape with prosciutto. Serve eggs on the side. Drizzle with honey or compote.
TIP
Look for duck prosciutto at Sanagan’s Meat Locker in Kensington Market. If they’re out of stock, simply substitute with a good-quality pork prosciutto. 176 Baldwin St., 416-593-9747.
ALEX MOLITZ
FARMHOUSE TAVERN
It’s official: duck is the new pork. The fowl, beloved by chefs for its tender meat and large, creamy-yolked eggs, has become a staple on menus all over town, showing up in dishes both traditional (confit, roast breast) and trendy (duck hot wings, duck ham). Alex Molitz, the chef at the Junction’s bucolic Farmhouse Tavern, has devised a true quack feast. He fries a boiled, panko-battered duck egg until the edges are crispy and the yolk is soft, and pairs it with delicate duck prosciutto and a chunk of duck foie gras (a bit earthier than its goose counterpart). He serves the trio with homemade gingerbread—a spicy sponge for the custardy yolk. Think of it as beak-to-tail dining.
Recipes developed by Victoria Walsh. Recipe photography by Raina and Wilson. Illustrations by Aleksandar Janicijevic. Interviews by Meaghan Binstock, Chantal Braganza, Matthew Hague, Peter Saltsman, Courtney Shea and Caroline Youdan.
½ lb raw foie gras
2-3 pinches salt
6-12 slices duck prosciutto (see tip)
1-2 tbsp honey or compote
1. To prepare gingerbread, preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and dust with flour. In a bowl, stir 2 cups of flour with baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. Peel and chop ginger. Using a garlic press, squeeze juice from ginger. Strain any pulp. In a bowl, whisk ¼ cup of ginger juice with 4 chicken eggs. Add oil and sugar. Slowly whisk wet ingredients into dry mixture. Pour into pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and place on a rack to cool completely.
2. To prepare duck eggs, fill a bowl with cold water and ice cubes. Bring a large, wide pan partially filled with water to a boil. Stir in vinegar and salt. Crack a duck egg into a bowl. Gently slip it into the simmering water. Repeat with 5 more eggs. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until whites are cooked through and centres are very soft. Using a slotted spoon, remove each egg from pot and lower into ice water. Cool. Remove and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Place ¼ cup flour, 1 chicken egg and panko in 3 separate shallow bowls. Beat chicken egg. Gently roll each duck egg in flour, beaten egg and panko to evenly coat. Set aside. Pour 2 inches of vegetable oil into a large, deep pot. Bring to 350°F. Fry each egg for 2 to 4 minutes until golden. Using a heatproof slotted spoon, remove fried duck eggs, set on paper towels and gently pat dry. Sprinkle with salt.
4. Thickly slice and toast gingerbread. Slice foie gras into ½-inch-thick pieces. Set a frying pan over medium-high heat. Coat with oil. When hot, add foie gras, sprinkle with salt and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until seared and soft in the centre. Turn foie gras once during cooking.
5. Serve foie gras on gingerbread. Drape with prosciutto. Serve eggs on the side. Drizzle with honey or compote.
TIP
Look for duck prosciutto at Sanagan’s Meat Locker in Kensington Market. If they’re out of stock, simply substitute with a good-quality pork prosciutto. 176 Baldwin St., 416-593-9747.
ALEX MOLITZ
FARMHOUSE TAVERN
It’s official: duck is the new pork. The fowl, beloved by chefs for its tender meat and large, creamy-yolked eggs, has become a staple on menus all over town, showing up in dishes both traditional (confit, roast breast) and trendy (duck hot wings, duck ham). Alex Molitz, the chef at the Junction’s bucolic Farmhouse Tavern, has devised a true quack feast. He fries a boiled, panko-battered duck egg until the edges are crispy and the yolk is soft, and pairs it with delicate duck prosciutto and a chunk of duck foie gras (a bit earthier than its goose counterpart). He serves the trio with homemade gingerbread—a spicy sponge for the custardy yolk. Think of it as beak-to-tail dining.
Recipes developed by Victoria Walsh. Recipe photography by Raina and Wilson. Illustrations by Aleksandar Janicijevic. Interviews by Meaghan Binstock, Chantal Braganza, Matthew Hague, Peter Saltsman, Courtney Shea and Caroline Youdan.){kind=link}