Duck Salad With Spiced Pears And Sweet Soy Dressing

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 6 duck breasts
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 3 heads chicory lettuce
• 1 (85 g) bag watercress
• 3 1/2 ounces grapeseed oil or 3 1/2 ounces other light oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon light muscovado sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark sweet soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 4 -6 medium unripe conference pears
• 6 ounces unrefined golden caster sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 cloves
• 6 slices thin fresh ginger
• 2 -3 pieces pared fresh lemon rind
• 1 lemon, juice of

Recipe

• 1 heat oven to 400*f.
• 2 prick the skin on each duck fillet with a fork.
• 3 mix the honey and soy sauce and brush all over the duck skins.
• 4 set the duck fillets skin side up on a rack in a baking dish or roasting tin.
• 5 add 2 tbs of cold water to the container and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, the skins should be golden and the meat still a little pink.
• 6 allow to cool.
• 7 with a knife tip remove the core from the stalk end of each chicory head, then shred across the leaves in slices.
• 8 separate out the shreds.
• 9 pick over the watercress, discarding stalky bits.
• 10 for the dressing, combine the oil, vinegar, sugar and sweet soy sauce and mix well.
• 11 peel the garlic clove and flatten with a knife blade.
• 12 add to the dressing and allow it to flavour the mixture until serving time.
• 13 then scoop out the garlic and add the chopped cilantro.
• 14 meanwhile, prepare the pears.
• 15 first choose a pan into which 6 medium size pears will fit snugly so they will be covered with the syrup.
• 16 measure 2 cups cold water into the pan, add the sugar, spices and lemon rind and stir over a low heat to dissolve the sugar.
• 17 peel the pears, leaving them whole with stalks intact.
• 18 as each pear is peeled, drop it into the pan.
• 19 replace the pan over the heat and bring to a simmer, half cover with the pan lid and cook pears gently until tender, about 30 to 40 minutes; test with a knife tip.
• 20 add the lemon juice and allow the pears to cool in the syrup before removing them for the duck salad.
• 21 to assemble the salad, thinly slice the duck fillets lengthways.
• 22 cut the pears in quarters lengthways.
• 23 to serve, scatter the chicory and watercress on a serving platter.
• 24 add the duck and pears, then spoon over the dressing.