Roasted Duck Breast with orange-sauce, carrot custard (Nathalie Aberfeuille)

Ingredients:
3 duck breasts around 300g each
200ml orange juice
6 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
200 ml whipping cream
50g cold butter, cubed
salt and peper

Balsamic syrup
250ml balsamic vinegar

Carrot Custard
800g carrots
30g ginger
1 orange rind
2 eggs
50ml whipping cream

Garnish
1 orange
Chervil or Italian parsley

Method:
Preparing the carrot custard

1. Grate the carrots and cook them for 4 minutes in boiling salted water.
2. Dice the ginger finely. You should collect about a nice tablespoon of diced ginger.
3. Mix together two eggs, the whipping cream, the ginger,the orange zest,salt and pepper and then add the grated cooked carrots.
4. Butter 6 silicone muffin moulds or take 6 ramekins and cover the bottom of each one with a circle of baking paper brushed with butter.Fill the moulds with the carrot mixture to a thickness of 3.5cm.Bake for 20 to 30 minutesin the ovenpreheated to 180C.
5. When the carrot custards are cooked and cold you can remove them from their mouldsand set them aside in the fridge. You will be able to reheat them in the microwave just before serving.

Preparing the orange to garnish

1. Peel the orange and remove the pulp omitting the white pulp.Cut in segments and keep in the fridge.

The balsamic vinegar reduction

1. Put 200ml balsamic vinegar in a pan and start heating very slowly, never letting it boil. Let it reduce to about 30mlleft or a thick consistency. Keep aside at room temperature.

Preparing the duck fillets

1. Using a sharp knife deeply score the skin of the duck fillets. and place them in a dish. Salt and pepper and keep aside in the fridge until ready to use.

20 minutes before serving:

1. Heat a frying pan to a high temperature. Place the duck fillets skin side down for around 7 minutes and turn them over and grill them for a further 7 minutes, or until they reach a temperature of 48to 50C in the center of the meat. Season with salt and pepper again if necessary, and let them rest for half of their cooking time wrapped in aluminium foil.
2. Remove the fat from the frying pan, do not rinse it, preserve the solids. Return the pan to the stove. Deglaze it with 6 tablespoons of non reduced balsamic vinegar, then add the orange juice. Let it reduce by half, then add the cream and then at a high heat reduce by half again. Season with a little salt and pepper. Remove the pan from the stove and whisk in 50g of butter while mixing vigorously.
3. Decorate the serving plates with the balsamic reduction. Place the carrot custards already reheated, in the center of the serving plate.Then garnish them with an orange segment and a sprig of parsley. Slice the duck fillets in 2cm thick slices and place them around the carrot custard (5 slices each). Season the meat with some coarse salt, pepper and spoon some sauce around and on top of it. Serve immediately.

Do not hesitate to prepare the carrot custards one day before. Keep them aside in the fridge, Moulds removed, in an airtight box. You can also precook the duck: 2 hours before the dinner you just cook them for 7 minutes on the skin side and then keep them aside at room temperature and finish the cooking for 7 more minutes on the meat side just before serving.