Spiced Duck Watercress Salad with Olives and Pickled Cherries
Recipe by Suze Morrison, Gourmet Glow | Photography by Lara Jane Thorpe
Ingredients:
4 Duck Breasts
3 tsp Sumac
1 tsp Brown Sugar
½ tsp Salt
100g Macadamias, roasted at 160C for 20 minutes
200g Watercress
100g Olives, pitted and halved
½ Cucumber, julienne
Pickled Cherries:
300g Fresh Cherries, pitted
450ml White Wine Vinegar
50g Caster Sugar
2 Star Anise
1 Cinnamon Stick
2 Bay Leaves
Cherry Vinaigrette:
4 tbsp Cherry Juice (from a carton is fine)
2 tbsp Pomegranate Molasses
4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Cracked Black Pepper to season
Method:
Begin the day before by dry brining the duck. Mix the sumac, sugar and salt in a bowl and rub over the duck flesh, leaving the skin. Turn, skin side up and refrigerate uncovered for 12 hours.
For the cherries, bring everything apart from the cherries to a simmer in a small pan. Pour over the cherries in a sterile jar and leave to pickle for at least 12 hours, although they will keep for 2 weeks in the fridge.
On the day, add all the dressing ingredients to a jar and shake to combine.
Preheat the oven to 200C. Pat the duck skin dry and score with a sharp knife, taking care not to penetrate the flesh. Lay it skin side down in a cold pan and set the heat to medium. Cook for 4-6 minutes, or until the fat has rendered and the skin is crisp.
Transfer the entire pan to the oven and cook for 4-5 minutes for rare. Remove and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.
To assemble the salad mix the watercress, cucumber, macadamias and olives in a bowl and drizzle with 2-3 tbsp of dressing. Slice the duck and arrange on top, with some pickled cherries and extra dressing on the side.
