The Infamous Duck and Orange Zested Potatoes
This is it! The moment you all have been waiting for. What better way to wrap up the MasterChef Season 9 finale than to present you with the dish that put an end to my MasterChef journey.
I present you the infamous duck and orange zested potatoes.
It has definitely taken me some time to come to terms with my elimination from MasterChef Season 9. I felt that I had so much more give in the competition and I never got to really show off my creativity since most of the challenges I competed in we were bound by the ingredients chosen for us or dishes we had to replicate.
Having grown up being abused, bullied, and discriminated against I have always tried to find ways to find my inner happiness. When you’ve been knocked down too many times it is difficult to find the strength to get back up. Dealing with these types of hardships at such a young age can take a toll on your self-esteem and they led me to make poor life choices. I made questionable decisions and kept the wrong company, I will not say I regret anything I did because I don’t. Rather, I am taking all those events and turning them into learning experiences and using them as teaching moments.
I’ve always found art as an escape to distract me from the realities of life going on around me. Whether it was drawing, painting, sculpting or sewing it was always a good way to get me out of my head and allow me to mindlessly focus on creating something beautiful. As many of you may know by now, my mother was deported in 2011, this took a significant toll on my already fragile mental health. I stopped being creative and had a moment of weakness which led me to a failed suicide attempt. Now, I am thankful I failed. Had I been successful I would not be here to share my story with you and hopefully inspire some of you to continue to live, seek help and find your inner happiness.
It wasn’t until I got back into the kitchen that I was able to create “art” once again. Cooking and baking are an art. Dishes can be plated so beautifully you’d be afraid to eat it because you don’t want to ruin it. That has always been my intention. I want people to see how creative I am and to think of some of my dishes as art. I march to the beat of my own drum and am always looking to reinvent myself and challenge the norm.
MasterChef S9 E5 “Gordon Ramsay Masterclass.” Photo courtesy FOX and Endemol Shine
Reminiscing of the challenges in the MasterChef kitchen one that sticks out for me was the crab challenge. I remember Gordon showing us how to break down and take apart this crab, it was a terrifying experience but I somehow managed to do it flawlessly. When the judges made their go round they saw me taking the crab apart and asked why I started with the legs first instead of the body like shown. They questioned why I did that and I told them, “I’m one to go against the grain and not conform to the norm.” I worked smart and was safe that challenge.
When I got the call to go Los Angeles I was so excited to have the opporJUNIty to show off all my creativity in the kitchen. I imagined myself cooking amazing dishes using expensive or unique ingredients so I was a little disappointed when I got there and that wasn’t the case. Then came the wedding.
Shaun O’Neale’s wedding was supposed to be a day of pure bliss and happiness and perhaps for him it was but not so much for me. My hopes were high in the fact that as team captain I’d been given free reign to cook whatever I wanted. It felt like I had stacked all cards in my favor since I’d chosen a dream team and was thinking of some recipes that my team could help me execute flawlessly. Then it all came crashing down when twist after twist was thrown at me and Gordon Ramsay questioned every decision I made. In the end my downfall was not being vocal enough and failing to stick to my guns and executing the dishes I conceptualized.
MasterChef S9 E8 “A Gordon Ramsay Wedding.” Photo courtesy FOX and Endemol Shine
The inspiration for this dish came from the time I spent in Paris and French cuisine. Duck à l’orange is a traditional French dish but quite frankly it’s boring and simplistic. I wanted to take those familiar flavors and reinvent them in a new modern way. By incorporating the orange zest into the potatoes you get the vibrant fragrance of the orange without compromising the taste. The orange juice is reduced with tart cherries and red wine to emulate the sweet and bitter taste profiles you’d get from the Grand Marnier and orange bitters traditionally used in the recipe. Overall I would say I was pretty damn creative so I’m saddened my vision never came to fruition across and I was eliminated that night. I won’t let that stop me though so here you go! Eat up bitches!
I wish the best of luck to the three finalist Cesar, Ashley and Gerron. These three are incredible cooks and I’m so happy I was able to share this experience with them!
To start you want to pat dry your duck and let it come to room temp. By allowing it to be at room temp you’re better able to gauge your cook time and ensure you don’t end up with a hot exterior and ice cold center.
While your duck is as Hilary Clinton would say “just chillin” on the counter let’s work on the infamous potatoes. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Take two large russet potatoes and peel them. Now here’s where I get creative because I’m cheap and refuse to buy unnecessary single purpose kitchen gadgets like a potato ricer. Using a large grater grate your potatoes. By doing this you allow your potatoes to cook a lot faster and gives you a nice velvety finish when puréed. Add potatoes to water and boil for 5-6 minutes. In a separate pot heat up 4tbsp butter and 1/2 cup of half and half until all bitter is melted. Check your potatoes, you’ll know they’re done because the the potato shreds look a little transparent and when you squish one it’ll be soft. Drain the water and return to pot. Slowly start whisking in hot cream mixture. Some of the potato strands should start to break apart and start to thicken up the mixture. At this point I bring out the immersion blender and go to town on the potatoes. Blend until you have a velvety smooth texture. If it looks too wet let it cook down some over low heat and stir occasionally while you prepare the other sides.
Next up you’re going to score your duck. Scoring means making cuts along the skin to ensure that when it cooks it doesn’t bunch up or helps crisp up the skin. Taking a sharp blade make cuts diagonally across the skin of the duck breast but be sure not to go too deep. Turn the breast and score the opposite way. Season with salt and pepper. Place duck skin side down onto a cold pan, yes a COLD pan. You want to render as much fat so you get some nice crispy skin on your duck. The fat will start to render and sound like bacon cooking. Toss in a crushed clove of garlic and a sprig of rosemary. You’ll let it cook for about 6-8 minutes, once you hear the sizzle sort of die down like when cooking bacon turn it over and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and place on a cooling rack skin side up and let rest.
Zest an orange and set aside about 1/2-1tsp of zest.
In a small saucepan combine your honey, orange juice of 2 oranges, 1/4 cup red wine a handful of cherries and a sprig of rosemary. Let it reduce for about 10 minutes.
Take your brussel sprouts and peel a few leaves from the sprouts and quarter the rest. Sautée them in the duck fat with the garlic and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat after the leaves look crispy.
Now to add your finishing touches. Using an immersion blender blend the cherries in the sauce, it does to have to be smooth you just don’t want a super chunky sauce, unless of course you are into that. Season with a dash of salt.
Take your orange zest and fold into your potato purée. Season with a dash of black pepper and additional salt if needed.
Plate however you’d please, be rustic and plop it all in one mound on a plate or if you’re trying to be fancy and impress your friends go the extra mile and do as I did. I used a ring mold to spoon the sauce in a semicircle. Place a spoonful of potato and place 3-4 slices of duck breasts. Arrange some crispy brussel sprouts quarters and leaves and decorate with edible flours and garnishes. Bon appetit!
The Infamous Duck and Orange Zested Potatoes
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 Large Russet Potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup half and half, warmed
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 duck breasts
Rosemary
1 large clove of garlic, crushed
Fresh cracked black pepper
8-10 brussel sprouts
2 oranges, zested and juiced
1/4 cup red wine
1 tsp honey
handful of cherries, about 8-10
1/2 tsp orange zest
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Shred potatoes using a grater. Boil for 5-6 minutes. Drain water and add warmed cream and melted butter. Blend with immersion until velvety smooth. Keep warm over low heat.
Score duck and season with salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Place duck in a cold pan skin side down and turn to medium high heat. Cook for 6-8 minutes until most duck fat is rendered. Add crushed garlic and rosemary sprigs. Flip and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest.
In a small saucepan bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer the orange juice, red wine, honey, cherries and a sprig of rosemary. Reduce for about 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove rosemary sprig. Blend with immersion blender and season with a dash of salt.
Peel a few sprout leaves and quarter the rest. Cook over medium heat in duck fat with rosemary and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until crispy.
Fold 1/2tsp orange zest into potato puree and season with black pepper.
Plate and enjoy!
