Chef Jeff’s Confit Duck, Sweet Potato tempura and Marshmallow

Private Chef Jeff Nappe, based out of New Jersey, curates beautiful elegant dishes. Using techniques and ingredients used in different cultures such as Indian, Norwegian and Japanese. Understanding textural, visual and taste appeal, you can count on New Jersey Resident & Chef, Jeff, to create your new favorite dish.

“Another dish from the heart, this confit duck embodies modern comfort food with layering of sauces and textures for a full flavored effect.”

Serves 4

Ingredients

duck confit

1 whole duck

1/2 stick unsalted butter

Grapeseed oil, 1/2 c

Sauvignon blanc, 1 c

Apple cider vinegar, 1/4 c

Low sodium chicken- stock, 1/2 c

Carrots, 2

Garlic cloves, 2

signature rub

Garlic powder, 1 tbsp

Onion powder, 1 tbsp

Roasted coriander, 2 tsp powdered

White pepper, 1/2 tsp

Espelette pepper, 1 tsp

Grade B maple syrup, 1/2 c

Low sodium soy- sauce, 3 tbsp

Heavy cream, 1 tbsp

Xanathan gum, 1/8 tsp

maraschino cherry sauce

1 large jar maraschino cherries

Sugar, 1/2 c

Water, 1/2 c

Sauvignon blanc, 1/4 c

Vanilla extract, 1 tbsp

1 knob ginger

Salt, 1 tsp

tempura sweet potato

Sweet potatoes, large diced, 4

Salt, 1 tsp

Sugar, 1/4 c

Brown sugar, 2 tbsp

Cinnamon, 1 tsp

1 knob ginger, minced

Grade B maple syrup, 1/2 c

Vanilla extract, 1 tbsp

1/2 stick butter

Heavy cream, 1/4 c

tempura batter

Corn starch, 1 c

AP flour, 1/2 c

Baking powder, 1 tbsp

1 egg

Salt, 1 tsp

Water, 1/2 c plus some

Marshmallow bruleed with torch

Procedure:

For the duck, set a manual pressure cooker to a medium high flame. Put half a stick unsalted butter and 1/2 c grapeseed oil. Allow butter to brown.
For signature rub add 1 tbsp garlic powder, 1 tbsp onion powder, 2 tsp roasted coriander powder, 1/2 tsp white pepper, and 1 tsp espelette to a small bowl and mix.
Trim off any extra skin or anything you’d like to remove from the duck. Then rub the duck with some oil and 2 tbsp salt. Pour the rub all over the top of the duck and lay face down in the hot pressure cooker to sear. Lower flame to medium low and let sear for up to 15 minutes or until golden slightly charred color has been achieved.
Flip duck drop in 2 carrots and 2 garlic cloves and allow duck to cook for at least 5 minutes on other side.
Pour in 1 c sauvignon blanc, 1/4 c apple cider vinegar.
Put on lid of pressure cooker, set a timer for 30 minutes and set flame to low medium.
The duck will fall apart and be very tender. Put it on a sheet tray or bowl and remove all of the tender duck from the bone. Disregard the bones or add them to the maple jus while it reduces.
For maple jus, take all the reduced liquid from the pressure cooker and add 1/2 c grade b maple syrup, 3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce, 1 tbsp heavy cream, and 1/8 tsp xanathan gum. Allow contents to reduce on medium high flame up to 20 minutes or as long as you’d like. The flavor will only get richer for the better but 2 hours usually does the trick if you have that time available. Salt to taste and if the liquid becomes too thick add 1/2 c low sodium chicken stock.
For the maraschino cherry sauce, put 1/2 c water and 1/2 c sugar into a medium sauce pan with a medium high flame, let reduce until it becomes a simple syrup. Pour in the jar of maraschino cherries, stir. Pour contents into vitamix and puree on high. Pour contents back into saucepan and add 1/4 c sauvignon blanc, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, and 1 knob of ginger. For the ginger, remove the skin by rubbing a spoon against it and running the skinless ginger through a grater, with smaller holes ideally. Press grated ginger through a fine mesh strainer and drain liquid into the cherry sauce, or just pick up and wring out by hand. Allow time to reduce, around 10 minutes with a medium flame.
For the tempura sweet potatoes, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in peeled and large diced sweet potatoes. Put on a lid and cook for 10 minutes. Remove sweet potatoes from the pot and put them into a large stainless steel mixing bowl.
Add 1 tsp salt, 1/4 c sugar, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 knob ginger (grated & squeezed through fine mesh strainer), 1/2 c grade B maple syrup, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 1/2 stick unsalted butter, and 1/4 c heavy cream. Combine ingredients using an electric hand mixer.
Pour sweet potato mixture into a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees in order to properly caramelize the sweet potatoes and also meld all the ingredients together. Allow to cool fully.
Using an ice cream scoop, make ice cream sized scoops and lay out one by one on a small tray. Freeze as is just until frozen so the ice cream shape remains with the potatoes. Once fully frozen wrap each scoop in plastic wrap and keep frozen until you are ready to use it.
In a medium pot pour 4 c canola oil and bring to deep frying temp.
In a medium stainless steel bowl pour 1 c corn starch, 1/2 c AP flour, 1 egg, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, and 1/2 c water (maybe more to achieve desired consistency. Tempura batter should be thick not thin and coat a spoon, however not too thick.
Dip frozen sweet potato scoops one by one into tempura batter using a slotted spoon. Drop into frying oil for about a minute or until tempura shell is a deep golden color (even if that means an extra 30 seconds). Dont forget to turn tempura sweet potato halfway through frying. Place on a paper towel to drain of any extra oil. (Note-you can fry up the tempura sweet potatoes and either keep in the refrigerator for later in an airtight container if you are serving them that day or night, or you can even put them back into the freezer and at a later date you can just bake them on 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, instead of refrying them.)
For plating, place 2 or 3 heaping tbsp of duck on the plate, using tongs works well too. Drizzle 1 tbsp maraschino cherry sauce in a circular motion around the duck. Pour 1 tbsp maple jus on top of the duck. Place one tempura sweet potato on top of the duck. Hit the bottom of a large marshmallow with a brulee torch so it sticks, then press it into the tempura sweet potato and hit the top as well with the torch to toast it fully.

Note: disregard whatever little bit is left of the skin especially if you do not desire that texture. There wont be much left anyway as it shrinks greatly as the fat renders off.

Note: do not crank up the heat on a manual pressure cooker. The pot will be hot enough from the 1st inital sear to maintain itself. Your burner should not go above medium once the lid is on. After 30 minutes, remove the lid of the pressure cooker according to your pressure cookers instructions/guide to removing the lid safely.

This recipe is just one of the many recipes that can be found in Chef Jeff Nappe’s book, Tastings, which can be found on Amazon or by clicking the link below.