Sous vide duck breast with mashed celeriac and quinoa
Yes, you read that correctly. I’m mixing quinoa and mashed celeriac together. After the success of serving quinoa and mashed pumpkin separately last weekend, I thought, why not see how quinoa tastes and feels in a starchy mash.
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You know me. I’ll try almost anything, well, almost anything.
After trying chicken breast, I thought I might try duck breast. I went to the Anova Culinary recipe page and found a few recipes there. I settled on a cooking temperature of 57 °C/135 °F and a duration of two hours. I also read that to get a crispier skin the breast should be seared before and after the sous vide process.
I bought everything at Coles. I used an ANOVA Culinary precision cooker.
Cooking meals for one Facebook group
I’m conscious more people are joining the Facebook group, “Cooking meals for one” and some have been a little disappointed that I’m not really providing low-cost options. I’ve found some new members are recently retired or widowed or suddenly on their own with a reduced income. I realise my recent cooking adventures have had a sous vide focus and while the cost of sous vide cooking is a lot cheaper than it used to be, buying a precision cooker for a couple of hundred dollars is still out of the reach of many people.
What I hope to do in future is provide options on how to make meals go further, especially with leftovers. With winter here in Australia, I’ll probably be doing more slow cooking soon and using cheaper cuts of meat and keeping leftover food for lunches at work.
Feel free to join the Facebook group Cooking meals for one.
Recipe
- Duck breast
- Iodised salt flakes
- Ground black pepper
- Chinese five spices
- Quinoa
- Celeriac
- Blue cheese
- Olive oil
- Sesame oil
- Sesame seeds
- Poppy seeds
- Butter
- Vegemite
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Unpack the duck breasts from the packaging and score the skin with a sharp knife.
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Make the score marks perpendicular to each other to create a crisscross pattern.
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Season the skin side with iodised salt flakes.
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Season the muscle side with iodised salt flakes, ground black pepper and Chinese five spices powder.
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Vacuum seal the duck breast.
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Turn on the Anova Culinary precision cooker and with the smartphone app set the temperature and timer to 57 °C/135 °F for two hours.
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When the water bath gets to 57 °C/135 °F put the duck breast into the water and close the lid.
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Peel and dice the celeriac into small cubes so the sides are between 1.5 and 2 cm (0.6 and 0.8 inches).
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Toss the celeriac in some olive and sesame oil along with some sesame and poppy seeds.
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Lay out the celeriac into a lined baking tray and roast at 200 °C/400 °F for one hour.
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Cook 500 grams/1 pound of tri-colour quinoa in one litre/2 US points of tap water for 10 minutes using microwave radiation at 1000 watts.
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When the celeriac is cooked, mash it using a food processor and then mix in some of the quinoa, some butter and some Vegemite.
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When the duck breast has finished in the water bath, remove the the duck from the bag and pat it dry with absorbent paper towel.
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Place the duck breast onto a paper towel lined plate and place it into a refrigerator for 10 minutes to permit a longer searing time.
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In a really hot frying pan, add some high vapour point oil like avocado oil or rice bran oil and sear the duck breast, skin side first and then the other side. Sear until the skin is a deep brown.
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Allow the duck breast to rest for a couple of minutes and then slice with a sharp knife. The meat should be a medium rare.
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Plate up with the celeriac and quinoa mash and then shoot a photograph trying to capture the blush of the meat and the creaminess of the mash.
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Eat the meal and then wash the dishes.
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Write the recipe and then write a blog post and hope it gets shared on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
Disclaimer
I have no culinary training nor qualifications.
This post is not intended to convey any health or medical advice. If you have any health concerns about anything you read, please contact your registered medical practitioner.
The quantities are indicative. Feel free to vary the quantities to suit your taste.
I deliberately do not calculate energy for dishes. I deliberately default to 500 Calories or 500,000 calories because I do not make these calculations.
Photographs
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Questions and answers
I would have thought you’d go with thigh as a lover of the dark meats?
It’s true I do like thighs more than breasts. That said, duck meat is a little oilier than chicken meat, and ducks have more succulent breasts than chickens.
How was the skin? Was it crispy?
Allowing the duck breast to cool in the refrigerator before searing is important. It allows longer searing time without the risk of overcooking the muscle.
The skin was nice and crispy.
How was the quinoa in the pumpkin mash? Did it live up to expectations?
The quinoa imparted a nuttiness and a little extra texture to the celeriac which because of its structure is best ‘mashed’ with a food processor or blender.
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Final thoughts
Do you like duck breast? Have you ever cooled a meat to then sear it? I’d be interested in your experiences.
Where did the ‘like’ button go?
Google forms feedback
Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback via the Google form. It has been very helpful.
Locusts
During the week I was chatting with Zena on Twitter and she mentioned a cricket pizza. I mentioned locusts deep fried in bacon fat.
I’ve eaten locusts fried in bacon fat. They were good.
— Yummy Lummy (aka Gary) (@Yummy_Lummy) May 7, 2018
I am now going to have to sous vide a duck breast. This looks amazing and your clear instructions make it simple to recreate at home. Thank you for sharing 8)
My pleasure Merryn 😃😃😃
I adore duck and so do my cats. I use coarse salt crystals over most of my meats and it really helps make a crispy skin.
I reckon I’m going to eat more duck after this experience. It was so good.
Love the idea of quinoa and celeriac! I’m not that fussed about duck, but I prefer duck breast to chicken breast any day. Looking forward to see what you do with slow cooker meals, as I’ve got one and am always looking for new ideas.
Thanks Emma
My slow cooker repertoire is small. I just put in a joint of meat in the morning and enjoy a lovely meaty dinner later.
One of my favourite meals though is slow cooker chicken congee. I might have to do it with duck this year.
That all sounds delicious. I’d never thought of a mash with quinoa, not a bad idea!
Thanks Elissa. I love a starchy mash. There are so many things that can be incorporated for flavour and texture. The celeriac can be a little rough rather than a purée so the mouthfeel is a little more prominent. Adding Vegemite is like having a smear of Vegemite on a stick of celery.
Gary this is the best looking dish you’ve made in the sous vide machine! 😀
Thank you very much Lorraine. That means so much to me 💚💚💚
Oh, I would love to try duck breast in the sous vide – it’s something I love but rarely cook. I’ll just have to find some, which is easier said than done around here.
I hope you can find some Sarah. The chilling prior to searing certainly gives you more time to sear and the meat gets warm without overcooking.
I enjoyed this article but couldn’t find the Like button. However my eyesight is poor so I probably missed it .
Sadly, there is a glitch with the like button at the moment. The WordPress Jetpack plugin I use for my site has a problem and I’ve been told I need to wait for an update which is coming in a few weeks. Sorry about that.
Okay. I understand. In the past WordPress has eaten my Comments or unsubscribed me from blogs without my permission. Lots of Gremlins in WordPress. Of course I will remain a faithful Follower and Subscriber to Yummy Lummy blog.
Thank you very much 😃
😀😁😃
Duck! It sounds like a great Saturday night dinner for one. Really like how you criss-crossed the meat so the flavours seep through.
It is some interesting feedback you are getting from the Facebook group. Apart from the cooker, I do think the meals you show are quite affordable. But maybe you can even make them even more so.
Thanks Mabel, it was a fabulous meal. I hope I can continue to help the members of the Facebook group. It’s been fun administering a Facebook group.
Looking forward to more of your mreals for one. They are always very colourful meals 😀
Thanks very much Mabel. I like o eat with my eyes too 👀
Taste is always the most important. But food and cooking is an art 😊
Taste and mouthfeel are vital for me.