Recipe and styling by Nomvuselelo Mncube
Photograph by Dylan Swart
Duck breast in raspberry jam herb marinade with caramelised onion and spinach salad
Ingredients
MARINADE
- 200g raspberry jam
- small handful thyme leaves
- small handful rosemary leaves, finely chopped
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 lemon, to squeeze
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
- 4 duck breasts (about 1kg)
- smoked salt flakes, to taste
CARAMELISED ONION
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 30g butter
- 3 medium red onions, peeled and sliced
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- salt, to taste
SPINACH SALAD
- 80g baby spinach leaves
- 80g gooseberries, some whole, others halved
- 80g radishes, thinly sliced
- 100g feta, cubed
- 40g flaked almonds, toasted
Instructions
For the marinade, combine the raspberry jam, thyme leaves, rosemary leaves, paprika, a squeeze lemon juice and crushed garlic in a small bowl. Stir to combine.
Place the duck breasts in a shallow dish and pour the marinade over them. Make sure the marinade coats the meat entirely. Cover and refrigerate, 1 hour. Remove the duck breasts from the marinade, scrape the marinade off the meat and season with smoked salt to taste. Place a frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the duck breasts, skin side down first, 5 minutes; then flip over and fry the other side, 5 minutes.
To caramelise the onions, heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and fry, 15 – 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent them from burning. When the onions are softened and golden in colour, add the sugar and balsamic vinegar – this will put the caramelisation process in motion. Season to taste. Cook the onions, a further 5 – 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sticky and caramelised.
Slice the duck breasts and place on 4 serving plates. Arrange the spinach, gooseberries and radish slices around the plates. Scatter the feta, caramelised onions and toasted almond flakes over.
