Sous vide duck breast with celeriac choucroute, bulgur wheat and cherries

Ingredients

• 4 duck breasts
• salt
• 1.2 kg duck bones
• 400 ml of brown chicken stock
• 100 ml of white wine
• 1 g of xanthan gum
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 tsp five-spice powder
• 1 tsp chardonnay vinegar
• 1 pinch of black pepper
• 500 g of celeriac, cut julienne
• 5 g of salt
• 25 g of duck fat
• 25 g of white wine vinegar
• 100 g of bulgur wheat
• 300 ml of water
• 15 ml of olive oil
• 1 tsp chives, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 8 cherries

Instructions

1. 1

   Begin by preparing the duck breasts. Remove the skin and scrape away the excess fat. Lay the skin flat on a tray, place in the freezer and set aside the duck breasts

2. 2

   Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4

3. 3

   For the duck sauce, place the bones in a baking tray and roast in the oven until deep golden brown. Bring the chicken stock to the boil in a large saucepan and add the duck bones. Reduce the heat, cook for 1 hour then strain the liquid into a clean pan

4. 4

   In a separate pan, bring the white wine to the boil. Add the wine to the stock, then add the garlic, five-spice, black pepper and Chardonnay vinegar and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for a further 2 more minutes, then pass through a fine sieve and thicken with xanthan gum. Keep warm until ready to serve

5. 5

   Place the celeriac in a bowl with the salt and mix well. Leave for 30 minutes, then squeeze out any excess moisture and place in a saucepan with the duck fat. Sweat over a medium heat for 20 minutes without colouring, then finish with the white wine vinegar

6. 6

   Place the bulgur wheat and water in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook for 8 minutes, then remove from the heat and stir through the chives, parsley and olive oil

7. 7

   Preheat a water bath to 62°C

8. 8

   Once the duck skin is frozen, remove from the freezer and place flat in a hot frying pan (or plancha if you have one) with a heavy weight on top. Cook for a few minutes or until the skin is golden brown and crispy

9. 9

   Place the duck breasts in a vacuum bag with a pinch of salt, seal with a bar sealer and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes in the water bath. When the time is nearly up, add the cherries to the duck sauce and heat through

10. 10

    Remove the duck breast from the vacuum bag and rest for a few minutes before carving lengthways into 2 pieces

11. 11

    To serve, place a pile of the choucroute on each plate and top with the bulgur wheat. Add the carved duck breast and finish with a shard of duck skin, the duck sauce and whole cherries