Warm Rice Salad With Smoked Duck Food

WARM DUCK SALAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place the duck breasts on a sheet pan, skin side up. Sprinkle with salt and roast for about 20 minutes, until medium-rare. Remove from the oven, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and allow to sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and discard the fat and skin on top (unless you're making cracklings), slice the duck, and then cut the slices crosswise into julienned pieces.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the shallots, sherry vinegar, orange zest, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Whisk in the olive oil and set aside.
• For the salad, trim the bottom half-inch from the endive and cut them diagonally into 1/2-inch slices. Separate the leaves and discard the cores. Place the slices in a large salad bowl. Add the mache leaves, oranges, raspberries, and toasted pecans. Toss with enough dressing to moisten. Gently toss in the warm duck meat and serve immediately.

WARM RICE SALAD WITH SMOKED DUCK

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a handful of kosher salt. Stir the rice into the water and gently boil until the rice is al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain well.
• Meanwhile, soak the shallots in the vinegar, adding a two-fingered pinch of salt.
• Peel the oranges and separate into sections, cutting the sections in half and squeezing out the seeds. Or, if you are feeling ambitious, remove the peels with a chef's knife and carve the sections away from the membranes with a paring knife, creating naked little crescents. If you do this, squeeze the juice from the membranes and from any peel pieces with bits of orange still attached into the vinegar and shallots. Add all the spices to the vinegar, and then the olive oil, stirring it quasi-energetically with a fork. Taste for salt; the dressing should be highly seasoned.
• As the rice is draining, heat the duck breast in the microwave just long enough to warm it but not long enough to cook it, around a minute or so. (Microwaves are idiosyncratic, so you be the judge.) Slice it into strips about half an inch thick, and slice those strips again into bits about half an inch thick. Toss the duck into a bowl with the rice and the olives. Add the dressing and stir well. Adjust the seasoning. Turn the rice salad onto a platter. Scatter the oranges over the top and dust the platter with the cilantro.

WARM WILD RICE SALAD

Steps:

• Bring 3 1/2 cups of water to a boil in large saucepan. Add rice and reduce heat to medium. Cook until just tender about 35 to 40 minutes. Fluff with a fork when ready.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add onions, celery, carrots, peppers, salt and pepper. Saute until softened, about 5 minutes.
• In a separate pan over medium-low heat, toast almonds. Stir occasionally until browned.
• Add peas and red pepper flakes to the vegetables. Add rice to skillet. Mix together and allow to cook for a few minutes. Remove from pan. Add almonds and top with parsley.

DUCK AND WILD RICE SALAD

Steps:

• Make dressing:
• Whisk together all dressing ingredients in a large bowl and let stand at room temperature while making salad.
• Cook rice:
• Rinse rice well in a large sieve under cold water, then drain. Heat butter in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat until foam subsides, then cook onion, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in water and broth and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until rice is tender, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. (Grains will split open but not all liquid will be absorbed.) Drain well in a colander and cool to warm before adding to dressing. (Spread rice out in a shallow baking pan to cool faster.)
• Cook sugar snaps and duck while rice is cooking:
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Cook sugar snaps in a 4-quart pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Drain in a sieve and rinse under cold water to stop cooking, then drain well.
• Pat duck dry and season with salt and pepper. Score skin in a crosshatch pattern and place duck, skin sides up, in a lightly oiled shallow (1-inch-deep) baking pan. Roast in middle of oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally into center registers 120°F (for medium-rare), about 25 minutes. Leave oven on.
• Transfer duck to a cutting board and when just cool enough to handle, remove skin. Thinly slice skin (scored side down), keeping duck breast warm, loosely covered with foil. Bake skin in baking pan in middle of oven until very crisp, about 15 to 20 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.
• Cut duck breast halves in half horizontally (butterfly-style), then cut across the grain into thin slices. Add duck and any juices to dressing along with rice, sugar snaps, scallions, apricots, pecans, and salt and toss gently to combine.
• Just before serving, scatter crisp duck skin on top.
• Available at D'Artagnan (800-327-8246) and Hudson Valley Foie Gras (877-289-3643).

WARM DUCK SALAD WITH WALNUT & ORANGE DRESSING

Steps:

• Mix the dressing ingredients with salt and pepper, then set aside. Heat a large non-stick frying pan, add the duck, skin side down, then fry for 10 mins. (During this time a large amount of fat will come from the skin and it will turn golden, but the flesh shouldn't cook too much.) Turn the duck breasts over for a second to seal, then take from the pan.
• Toss the potatoes in the duck fat and fry, turning frequently, until they are golden. Add the walnuts, stir, then lift everything out of the fat with a slotted spoon and put in a roasting tin. Put the duck on a roasting rack on top. Brush the beetroot with a little of the duck fat and put on a separate dish. This can all be done on the morning if you want to get ahead, but chill the duck and bring back to room temperature before cooking.
• To serve: Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Roas the duck, potatoes and beetroot for 15 mins, then cut the beetroot into wedges. Put the watercress, spring onions and chicory in a bowl and toss with three-quarters of the dressing. Pile onto plates with the sliced oranges and beetroot, then scatter with the potatoes and walnuts. Slice the duck (you can remove the fat first if you like), arrange on top of the salad and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Serve while still warm.

SMOKED SALMON RICE SALAD

Steps:

• Whisk the dressing ingredients and set aside. Toss together the salad ingredients in a large bowl with the dressing. Serve from the bowl or pile onto a serving platter.

HONEY & SOY DUCK SALAD

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Score the skin of the duck breasts and season. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a high heat, add the duck, skin-side down, and cook for 4 mins or until the skin is crisp. Turn over and quickly brown the underside, then transfer to a baking tray.
• Mix the dressing ingredients together and spoon all but 2 tbsp of it over the duck. Roast the duck for 10 mins for pink, longer if you prefer. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 4 mins, then slice into strips. 3 Toss together the salad, tomatoes, spring onions and duck slices. Drizzle over the remaining dressing and serve.