Duck pie

Today we present a dish that is as hearty as it is daring, tasty and surprising. It is brought to us by Eva, author of Bake-Street , who prepares a Duck Pie in a black sesame crust that you can use for many other cakes.

Duck pie is a pie with a unique flavour, and it is also different since we are not used to eating duck on a daily basis. This recipe has all the characteristics to be an ideal recipe for family gatherings!

Many times we have to receive friends or family at home and we find it difficult to decide what to prepare, not to mention that we have to get up early so that the food is ready when they arrive.

And if I tell you, this wonderful Duck Pie can be prepared the day before, well two days if we count the marinade for the meat, and on the big day we will only have to spend a few minutes to decorate it? As you read, a perfect second course (because I see it as a powerful first course), different, tasty, aromatic and very striking.

This ceramic mould from Emile Henry is perfect for presenting it. It has a good diameter and is quite high, allowing us to make a generous filling. We can also cut the cake in the mould itself and take out the portions without the dough sticking to it. Not to mention how beautiful it looks when presented.

This recipe by Bertinet has been very popular at home, in fact it reminds them a lot of the taste of pâté. If we happen to have some cake left over, we can refrigerate it and eat it within 6-7 days without any problems.

Ingredients (for a 28 cm diameter mould, 12 servings)

FOR THE BLACK SESAME DOUGH:

300 g of wheat flour
150 g cold butter
6 g sea salt
1 large egg
40 g of very cold water
4 teaspoons of black sesame (approx. 11 g)

FOR THE FILLING:

500 g of clean and boneless duck thigh, we will need approximately 800 g (2 thighs)
500 g of lean pork
300 g of cured bacon
6 juniper berries
8 grains of allspice crushed in a mortar
1 teaspoon freshly ground green pepper
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
200 g of Port or Sherry
18 unpeeled shallots
olive oil to preserve the shallots, approximately 700 g.
2 large eggs
150 g light liquid cream
sea ​​salt and freshly ground pepper

FOR THE GELATIN

4 sheets of neutral gelatin
200 g of homemade chicken broth
100 g of Port or Sherry

STOP DECORATING:

3 large purple beets
3 slices of pumpkin, approx. 600 g.
Lemon thyme sprigs, fresh thyme and rosemary
Flaked sea salt
Virgin olive oil

ELABORATION

FIRST DAY

We prepare the black sesame dough:

In a bowl, add the flour together with the salt and black sesame seeds, set aside.

We grate the cold butter to be able to integrate it better. Once it is ready, we add it to the flour mixture and begin to integrate it with the tips of our fingers until we obtain a sandy mixture.

Add the egg and mix lightly. Add the very cold water and mix again.

We transfer the dough to a work surface and finish working the dough by making the fraisage. I will explain how to do it.

We place the “heel” of our hand on the dough and slide it forward little by little, so that the dough comes together but without obtaining an elastic result. We are not interested in developing the gluten to prevent it from swelling.

Once it is homogeneous, form a disk, cover it with film and place it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Ideally, it should be prepared the day before.

We marinate the meat:

We are going to work with duck legs, so if we trust our butcher (and we don't know how to debone very well!) we will ask him to debone both for us and remove the skin. This will get us ahead of the work and we won't damage the meat.

Dice the duck meat, the lean pork and the cured bacon. Add to a large bowl and add all the spices, the port or sherry (your choice), a little salt and the thyme. Mix well to season the meat, cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator until the next day.

We confit the shallots:

To confit the shallots we will need a large saucepan, about 700 g of olive oil and the unpeeled shallots.

We wash the shallots thoroughly with water to remove any dust or dirt, and dry them. We put them in a large saucepan and cover them with olive oil. The amount of oil will depend mainly on the size of the shallots.

Pallarès iron knife with boxwood handle

We put it on a very low heat, on an induction hob with values ​​of 1-9 we will put it at 3, we cover the pan lightly and let it confit very slowly. It will take us around 40-45 minutes.

To know if our shallots are ready, we just have to prick them with a knife. If it goes in smoothly, they are ready.

Remove from heat, remove with a skimmer and allow to cool completely in a bowl.

Note : The oil in which we have confit the shallots can be reused without any problems to fry potatoes, for example, and it will give them a very peculiar flavour.

SECOND DAY

We prepare the dough:

We must temper the dough a few minutes before we are ready to stretch it, so we will take it out about 30 minutes before working with it.

We place two sheets of baking paper and the dough between them. This way it will be very easy to stretch the dough without it sticking to the work surface and transfer it to the mould. With the help of a rolling pin we stretch the dough until it exceeds the diameter of the mould by about 4-5 cm.

Remove the top paper, lightly sprinkle the dough with flour, place the mould on the dough, making sure to centre it, and turn it over as if it were a tortilla. This way, we will place the dough without handling it excessively and risk stretching it or having it stick to our hands.

Remove the paper and let the dough settle into the mould. Don't press it down to make it stick to the mould, just adjust the edges and remove the excess.

We put it in the fridge while we prepare the filling.

We prepare the meat for the filling:

We take the marinated meat out of the fridge and grind it in a meat grinder. If we don't have any at home, we can do two things: have it minced when we buy it, so that it is already prepared, or cut it very finely with a very sharp knife.

We put it in a large bowl and set it aside.

In a small bowl, mix the cream with the eggs, whisking until the mixture is homogenous. Pour over the meat, adjust the salt and pepper, and mix again.

To know if it is well seasoned, we can taste the mixture directly or cook a small amount in a small pan , wait for it to cool and then taste it.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC with heat from above and below.

While we clean half of the shallots, we reserve the rest to decorate the top.

Remove the outer skin and cut the shallots in half lengthwise. Set aside.

We take the mould out of the fridge and proceed to fill it. We will put in a little meat and we will arrange the shallots as we fill the mould. Do not mix the shallots with the meat mixture because when you stir it, the segments will separate and when you cut the cake it will not look as attractive. They will be like scattered layers of onion.

Once we have filled the mould, we cover it with a sheet of baking paper and put it in the oven for 1 and ½ hours or 1 and ¾ hours. We must make sure that the meat is fully cooked before taking it out.

When there are 30 minutes left to finish cooking, remove the baking paper so that the dough can brown.

We take the mold out of the oven and let it cool completely. This can take around 2 hours.

We prepare the Oporto gelatin:

Fill a small bowl with very cold water and add the gelatin sheets to hydrate them.

In a saucepan, add the chicken broth, homemade is even better, along with the port. Place over medium heat and let it simmer until it starts to boil. Remove from heat.

We remove the gelatin sheets, drain them very well and add them to the hot mixture. We mix them very well with the help of a whisk until they dissolve completely.

We let the mixture cool a little before pouring it over the cake.

You will notice that the meat has separated a little from the dough, it's okay. Pour the gelatin over the cake, and the gap will be filled with gelatin. Put the mold in the refrigerator until the gelatin sets, which will take about 4 hours.

We can leave it until the next day, the flavor will improve a lot thanks to its maturation.

THIRD DAY

We prepare the top decoration:

Place the whole, unpeeled beets in a saucepan, cover with water and leave to cook on medium heat for about 25 minutes. Cook them but do not allow them to become too tender. When you insert a knife , it should go in but offer a little resistance.

Remove from heat, remove from the pan and allow to cool on a platter.

In a separate pot, cook the pumpkin. Cut it into thick slices, without removing the skin, cover with water and place on medium heat. It will take less time to be ready, around 18-20 minutes. Be careful not to let it soften too much.

We take it out and let it cool on a plate.

Preheat the oven to 200ºC with heat from above and below. Prepare a large baking dish and line it with paper.

Cut the beetroot in half and from this half you will get 4 segments. Repeat the process with the rest of the beetroot.

We prepare the pumpkin, remove the rind and cut the slice in half. Then we cut it into squares.

Place on the baking tray, drizzle with a splash of olive oil (you can use the oil you reserved from the shallots), season with flaky salt and add a few sprigs of lemon thyme, thyme and rosemary.

Bake for about 17-20 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

While we clean the rest of the shallots, remove the outer skin and cut them in half lengthwise. Set aside.

Emile Henry ceramic mould and Pallarès kitchen knife with beech handle

We decorate the cake:

We arrange the beetroot segments, pumpkin and candied shallots alternately on the surface. We decorate with a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary and our Duck Pie is ready to enjoy.

Enjoy!