Roast Duck, Lemon Tarragon Sauce with Roquefort

Roast Duck, Lemon Tarragon Sauce with Roquefort
Fresh Peas, Asparagus, Leeks

Bonjour, mes amis! Happy Bastille Day! July 14th marks the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789 — a dramatic turning point that lit the spark for the French Revolution and the birth of the Republic’s rallying cry: liberté, égalité, fraternité.

Known across France as la Fête Nationale, it’s a day of parades, fireworks, music, and good cheer from Paris to Provence — and we’re joining the festivities in delicious style by serving Canard rôti, paired with a bright lemon-tarragon sauce, fresh peas and asparagus, and a generous flourish of bold, creamy Roquefort. Vive la France!

Roast Duck, Lemon Tarragon Sauce Recipe

Roast Duck

• 2 Maple Leaf Farms roast half ducks (precooked and partially de-boned)
• olive oil
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place ducks in a shallow roasting pan, skin-side-up. Let ducks sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Brush the skin with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 minutes until the duck meat is hot and the skin is extra crispy.

Sauce and Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 c. fresh peas
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed, sliced into 2″ pieces
• 2 T. butter
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 leek, thinly sliced
• 1/4 c. dry vermouth
• zest of 1 lemon
• 3 T. lemon juice, divided
•  4 T. creme fraiche
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1 T. tarragon, finely chopped, plus more for garnish
• 3 oz. roquefort cheese, crumbled

Method

Cook peas and asparagus in salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and shock in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Drain again and set aside.

Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté leeks with a pinch of salt for about 6 minutes.

Raise heat and add vermouth, cooking for about 2 minutes.

Lower heat again to medium, add lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and stir to combine. Then add creme fraiche and salt and pepper.

Toss the vegetable mixture into the skillet to warm through.

Remove skillet from heat then add chopped tarragon and remaining tablespoon of lemon juice.

To Plate

Ladle sauce and vegetables onto two warm serving platters. Top immediately with crumbled roquefort around the perimeter so it begins to partially melt into the sauce. Place each half duck on top of the vegetables. Garnish with tarragon. Bon appétit!

Note

Serves 2 (very generously) or 4 (sliced into a breast with wing piece and a thigh with leg piece).

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