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Ingredients:

Garlic clove, finely chopped – 3 Large

Grated peeled fresh ginger – 1 tbsp

Five-spice powder – 2 tbsp

Salt – 1 tbsp

Freshly ground pepper – ½  tbsp

Single duck breasts – 4

Extra-virgin olive oil – 1 tbsp

Dry red wine – ¼ cup

Balsamic vinegar – 3 tbsp

Cup of fig marmalade  – 1 cup

Quail egg – 4

 

Method:

  1. In a large, heavy self-sealing plastic bag, combine the garlic, ginger, five-spice powder, salt, and pepper. Add the duck breasts, seal, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Remove from the refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.
  2. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C/gas 6. In a large ovenproof sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Sear the duck breast, skin side down, for 5 minutes; turn and sear for 5 minutes on the other side. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 5 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer the duck breasts to a plate and keep warm.
  3. To make a balsamic jus, pour off the fat from the pan. Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the wine, and stir to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook to reduce the wine by half. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook to reduce for several more minutes.
  4. Cut the duck breasts into diagonal slices and serve drizzled with the balsamic jus, place on toasted baguette croutons and top with a sunny side up quail egg and fig marmalade.

Wine Recommendation:

Hamilton Russell, Pinot Noir, 2015:

Hamilton Russell Vineyards is an icon and their wines are regarded as the best in SA. One of the country’s most southerly wine estates, it produces world-class wines that are unique thanks to the estate’s enviable climate, soil and tiny yields. This Pinot, from the exceptional 2015 vintage, is not overtly fruity but it is soft and ‘sweet’ and it shows hints of an alluring savoury primal character along with a dark, spicy, complex primary fruit perfume.

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