I love that Loreto, author of Sabores de Colores , surprises me with her smoker creations. The reason? That many times we are left with the idea that the smoker will serve to smoke salmon and some other fish... and we don't go any further. But without a doubt it is useful for much more, as on other occasions he has told us and shown us. Surely you will be with me: this duck magret that he presents to us today is a real delicacy!

Gathering the family at home is the perfect excuse to prepare smoked meats, and also the perfect excuse to try new recipes. As is the case with the recipe that I am bringing you today, the smoked duck breast, a recipe that I tried a long time ago in a restaurant and fell completely in love with it, and you know that it could not be any other way than not to offer you my version, for The sooner you prepare it at home.

Since I have the Nordic Ware smoker at home I have been reading a lot, researching and looking for different recipes to prepare, and what I have seen, common to all of them, and something that I recommend, is that when we decide to make smoked meats, the ideal is look for ingredients with a medium-high fat content as these will be the ones that best absorb the aromas. Hence, the magret is always a perfect option, always keeping the skin with all its fat, a real delicacy. I recommend that you prepare it as soon as possible and you will see that you will repeat.

INGREDIENTS (for 2 people)

1 duck breast
6 figs

Mix to cure the magret:
150 g coarse salt
150g brown sugar
1 tablespoon green anise grain
1 cinnamon stick
10 balls black pepper

Smoker Mix:
2 tablespoons pecan chips (or chips of your choice for smoky flavor)
1 teaspoon of green anise grain
1 cinnamon stick

ELABORATION

1. Place the green anise grains, black pepper and cinnamon in a mortar, mine is Emile Henry's (fabulous), and lightly mash them.

2. Next, mix the crushed spices with the salt and sugar in a large bowl and on a tray, a plate or a ceramic mold , distribute a third of the mixture and place the duck breast with the skin facing up, cover with two thirds remaining, press lightly and leave to cure in the fridge for 2 hours.

3. After two hours we remove the duck breast from the fridge, wash it under the tap, dry with absorbent paper and place it on the perforated tray of the smoker together with the figs.

4. Next, we place two spoons of wood chips , a teaspoon of green anise and the cinnamon stick that we will have broken into pieces in the bottom of the smoker . On the bottom we place the container for the liquids, not because we are going to add any liquid but because the duck, when heated, will release fat which will fall into this container and it will be easier to clean. Finally we have the tray with the duck breast and figs and cover. We light the fire and cook for 15-20 minutes *, making sure that the smoker does not exceed 100ºC, you already know that you can control this with the thermometer that it has, if it goes over temperature you can control it by lowering the fire in which it is arranged the smoker

(Left) 26cm wavy ceramic bowl by Emile Henry ; (right) Nordic Ware Food Smoker

5. After the cooking time, we open the smoker and remove the magret to a plate, cover it with aluminum foil and let it rest for 5 minutes.

6. Finally, with the help of a very sharp knife , we cut the magret into thin slices and serve accompanied by the smoked figs.

* The time is indicative, after 15 minutes we can check if the cooking point is what we like, think that the magret must be pink in the center so that it is very juicy.

Nordic ware food smoker , and Pallarès carbon steel knife