I don't normally cook with a lot of chard because neither TF nor I are big fans of it. I don't hate it, but I like kale and spinach better. And TF is strongly averse to it, so I usually just swap in kale anywhere that chard is called for.

I'm not cooking for TF right now though. I'm cooking for Reiver. And he has a whole garden full of chard (silverbeet), so I've been taking advantage of the fresh garden vegetables.

He also had some duck breast confit in convenient, ready-to-eat packages. So I figured they would work just as well as legs for this soup and make good use of ingredients on hand.

Lentil & Chard Soup

From Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan (p. 123)

Ingredients

• 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 yellow onion, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, peeled and minced
• 2 cups Puy (French) lentils, picked over and rinsed
• 8-10 c. water
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt (or vegetable stock powder/concentrate), divided
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 6 large chard leaves, chopped, including ribs
• 2 duck legs confit
• 8 baguette slices¹, cut on the diagonal

Directions

1. Warm 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent (~2 minutes).
3. Add the garlic and carrot and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Stir in the lentils and water² and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
5. Add the bay leaf, thyme, 1 tsp. salt (or stock powder), and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Add the chard and duck legs and cook until the lentils are almost tender (20–25 minutes).
7. Transfer the duck legs to a cutting board and, when they are cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skin.
8. Cut off the meat, discarding the bones. Coarsely chop the meat and stir all but about 1⁄4 cup into the soup.
9. Cook until the lentils are tender but not mushy (~10 minutes longer).
10. Remove and discard the bay leaf and thyme sprigs and stir in 1⁄2 tsp. salt.
11. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, warm the 2 Tbsp oil over medium-high heat.
12. Add half of the baguette slices and fry until golden (~3 minutes). Turn and fry until golden on the other side (~2 minutes). Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate.
13. Repeat with the remaining baguette slices.
14. Ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish each with a fried crouton topped with a bit of the reserved duck meat.

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¹ I just made a bunch of smaller croutons out of some sale bread we had on hand: Cut into cubes, toss with a bit of oil, roast in oven until nicely crispy. ^Back
2 Add more or less water depending on how thick you like your soup. I like mine quite thick and stew-like, so I just used 8 c. of water. Use up to 10 c. for a soupier soup. ^Back

Symbol picked up a duck breast for our miniversary and after some research we settled on this recipe for it, cobbled together from two online recipes. It took a while to make but was delicious. The sauce was great and the potatoes had that perfect crispy on the outside, soft on the inside texture. The duck didn't release enough fat for the potatoes on its own, but we had a leftover jar of chicken fat from earlier cooking projects and used that to bulk it up.

Duck and Crispy Potatoes with Orange Sauce

Adapted from Tasty and Serious Eats

Ingredients

• 1 lb duck breasts
• coarse salt
• 1 lb potatoes, cut into 8ths
• Chicken or bacon fat
• ½ C white wine
• 1 C chicken stock
• 1 tsp orange zest
• juice of 1 orange
• 4 tbsp butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until al dente, ~10 minutes. Drain.
3. Score skin side of duck in a cross-hatch pattern. Salt skin heavily and flesh lightly.
4. Place duck, skin side down, in a cold oven-safe skillet. Set heat to medium low.
5. Cook duck until fat has rendered off and skin is crispy. Adjust heat as needed to keep fat bubbling but not spitting; pour off duck fat into a large, deep skillet as needed to keep the duck from deep-frying.
6. Flip duck over and cook flesh side for a few minutes to sear it.
7. Flip duck skin side down again and transfer to oven. Cook until cooked through, ~150°F on the meat thermometer. Remove and let rest for 10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, add chicken or bacon fat to the large skillet (if needed) and bring to medium high heat. Add potatoes and cook until crispy golden-brown on all sides, turning as needed. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Meanwhile, deglaze chicken pan with white wine. Cook until fully reduced.
10. Add stock and continue cooking until thickened.
11. Add orange zest and orange juice and cook until thickened again.
12. Remove from heat and stir in butter.

This Hello Fresh recipe box was a Christmas special, and well worth it, I think. Every part of it was delicious; even the broccolini, which I don't normally go for (too bitter), had a nice sweetness to it. (Based on the packaging, it's a different cultivar.)

It has a lot of moving parts, but no one part is particularly difficult, it's just tricky to get them to all finish at the same time (I didn't manage it).

Crispy Cherry Duck with Broccolini & Chive Potatoes

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 4 skin-on duck breasts
• 1 kg russet potatoes, cubed
  
• 1 large shallot, finely chopped
  
• 120mL cherry jam
• 1 bunch chives, finely chopped
  
• 700g sweet broccolini, trimmed and halved
  
• 60mL milk
• 60mL (4 tbsp) butter
  

Directions

1. Score the skin side of the duck in a grid pattern. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Place duck, skin side down, in a large, cold, non-stick pan. Heat over medium heat and and sear until crispy, 10-12 minutes.
3. Flip duck and sear other side for 2-3 minutes.
4. When duck is finished searing, transfer to baking sheet, reserving pan and fat. Roast at 425°F, skin side up, until cooked through, 10-15 minutes.
   
5. While duck is searing, add potatoes, 10mL salt, and enough water to cover to a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, covered, until fork-tender, 10-12 minutes
6. Drain potatoes and mash in butter, milk, chives, and salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
   
7. Return 15mL reserved duck fat to pan. Add 2 tbsp water and half the broccolini, cover, and steam over medium heat until fork-tender, 6-8 minutes.
8. Repeat step 6 with the rest of the broccolini. (If you have a very large pan you may be able to do the whole thing at once, but ours is quite large and it's still not large enough for that.)
9. Add 30mL of duck fat (supplementing with butter if your duck was not fatty enough) to the pan.
10. Once melted, add the shallots and cook, stirring often, until softened, 1-2 minutes.
11. Whisk in the jam and 160mL (⅔C) water. Cook, stirring often, until thickened, 3-5 minutes.
12. Once duck is cooked, slice thinly, drizzle with cherry sauce, and serve with potatoes and broccolini.
    

Kashmiri Batak (Duck Stew)

I've been curious about this curry ever since I saw the recipe. It's been in the back of my mind ever since as something to try... sometime. I finally got around to it tonight and I'm so glad I did! It is delicious! The duck was (apparently) a pain to skin and cut up. TF said that no matter how good this curry was, he wasn't willing to do that again. It's hard to argue with the results though!

Kashmiri Batak
From 660 Curries
1 duck, skin removed, cut into 8 pieces
2 Tbsp. ginger paste
2 Tbsp. garlic paste
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. ground turmeric
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 onion, sliced thin
4-6 black cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks (3" each)
2 tsp. fennel seeds, ground
1 1/2 tsp. ground Kashmiri chiles (or 1 tsp. sweet paprika + 1/2 tsp. cayenne)
1 tsp. ground ginger
12 oz. (~340g) halved pitted cherries (frozen are fine)
1/2 c. chopped black walnuts
2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro

1. Combine ginger paste, garlic paste, 3/4 tsp. salt, and turmeric.
2. Slather duck pieces with marinade and chill for at least an hour.
3. Heat oil over medium heat. Add duck and marinade. Brown on both sides (5-10 minutes per side). Remove duck from pot.
4. Add onion, cardamom, bay leaves, cinnamon, and 1/2 c. water. Deglaze pan. Increase heat to medium-high. Cook 5 minutes.
5. Add ground fennel, chiles, ginger, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Cook for 30-60 seconds.
6. Add 1 1/2 c. water, cherries, and walnuts. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium. Return duck to pot. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.
7. Remove duck from pot. Increase heat to medium-high. Cook until sauce thickened (~10 minutes).
8. Stir in cilantro. Serve duck over rice ("Mitty" Chawal goes nicely), with a generous portion of sauce.