Duck Paella
By Gressingham customer Chris Connell
This recipe combines the tapas classic of honey and wine-fried duck with the famous Spanish rice dish. You can leave the paella to catch on the base of the pan to make a crisp crust at the bottom; this is called ‘socarrat’ and much fought over...it’s the best bit!
Ingredients
- ½ a chorizo ring, cut into thin semi-circles
- Good olive oil
- 3-4 Gressingham duck breasts, skin scored
- 100ml good Spanish Rioja or other red wine
- 1 tbsp runny honey
- 1 red onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 sweet peppers, deseeded and cut into small large dice
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 800ml good stock (preferably beef)
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- Small pinch of saffron strands
- 250ml paella rice (such as bomba or calasparra)
Method
- In a large, deep sauté pan on a medium-high heat, fry the chorizo in a good glug of oil until the oil starts to turn red. Make a space in the pan to lay in the duck breasts skin-side down and then turn down the heat to low-medium. Fry for 5 to 8 minutes until the skin is crisping up. Turn the breasts over and cook on all sides until browned. Remove the duck and chorizo with a slotted spoon and place them in a hot dish to keep warm.
- Pour the wine into the pan and turn up the heat, boiling to reduce the liquid to a thin syrupy consistency. Add the honey and mix well. Return the duck, skin-side uppermost, to the pan along with the chorizo and cook over a low-medium heat for 10 minutes or so, basting regularly. Transfer the duck back to the hot dish and keep warm.
- Add the onions, peppers and garlic to the chorizo and cook over a medium-high heat for 5 to 10 minutes while you prepare the cooking liquor. Bring 700ml of the stock to a simmer with the spices in a saucepan. Next stir the rice into the paella pan. Pour in the spiced stock, bring back to a boil over a high heat and cook vigorously for 5 minutes while stirring regularly.
- Turn the heat down low and cook for about 10 to 12 minutes until the rice is tender. Do not stir the rice while cooking, but if it looks like it is getting dry at the bottom of the pan and you don’t want a crispy crust, just add a little of the remaining hot stock. Return the sliced duck to the paella just before serving.