Chef Scott Bagshaw’s Roast duck breast with wine-soaked currants and toasted chestnuts
Styling Kari Wardrop, Recipe& Food Styling Scott Bagshaw, Photography Jerry Grajewski
Chef Scott Bagshaw’s 3 restaurants have all received five-star reviews and landed on Air Canada’s enRoute magazine’s contender’s list for best new restaurant in Canada. Passero is Italian influenced, with a fine selection of housemade pastas. Máquè draws on Vietnam, Korea and China, utilizing French techniques, while Enoteca ranges from French to Spanish to Americana.
When we asked Chef Scott Bagshaw to create a holiday dinner, he replaced the traditional turkey with more succulent duck, with breasts seared hard, until their skin was like gold crackling, and then sweetened by drunken currants. And served this showstopper holiday main with toasted chestnuts. Hope you enjoy this special recipe!
Ingredients
1/2 cup palm sugar
2 cups red wine
2 cinnamon sticks
3 bay leaves
1 cup currants
2 duck breasts, scored
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 cup toasted chestnuts, chopped
Shop Kitchen Tools
Preheat oven to 375 ̊ F. In small saucepan, over medium heat, add palm sugar and caramelize. Add red wine, cinnamon, bay leaves and currants. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by one third.
While sauce is reducing, in a medium, ovenproof skillet, heat pan over high heat. When just smoking, add duck breasts, skin side down. Sear for 2 minutes then flip and sear for another 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Place in oven, uncovered, for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove duck from pan and let rest on cutting board for 10 minutes. Thinly slice. To serve, ladle sauce over top of duck breast and garnish with chestnuts. Serves 4 to 6.
