Orange-Glazed Sous Vide Duck Breast with Honey-Balsamic Sauce, Caramelized Endive, and Sauteed Apples

Quite the mouthful right there. Plating instructions included.

For the duck:

2 Duck Breasts, boneless, skin-on

Fresh Thyme

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Salt the duck on both sides. Press thyme stalks into both sides and refrigerate overnight, uncovered.

Set water bath to 132F. Score the duck skin in a crosshatch, making sure not to pierce through to the flesh. Rub the flesh side down with pepper, then lightly salt both sides. Vacuum seal in separate bags and place in water bath.

Remove and thoroughly dry. Prepare the glaze.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Place breasts in, skin-side down, and leave to render for 5 minutes. Remove breasts and increase to high heat. Start apples and endives while the pan heats.

Sear the duck on both sides to crisp the skin. Remove, brush with glaze, and broil or blowtorch on high for 10-15 seconds to caramelize. Remove and tent with foil; reduce pan heat to medium to start the sauce.

For the glaze:

2tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

1tbsp Honey

Orange Zest

Add balsamic vinegar and honey to a double boiler and mix on medium heat until integrated. Zest in orange to taste and reduce to a syrup, whisking constantly and removing from heat to chill periodically. Once the cooled syrup is thick but still liquid, remove from heat and set aside.

For the endives:

4 Belgian Endives, small

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

Add a thin coat of olive oil to a separate pan and heat on med-high until the oil starts to shimmer.

Slice the endives lengthwise; lightly salt, and place cut-side down in the pan for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, flip, and leave to soften for another 3-5. Lightly pepper and remove.

For the apples:

2 Granny Smith Apples

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Fresh Sage

Fresh Thyme

Add a thin coat of olive oil to a separate pan and heat on med-high until the oil starts to shimmer.

Quarter and core the apple, then slice into wedges. Lightly salt and sautee 1 minute. Add thyme leaves, lightly pepper, sautee another minute, then add sage, sautee another minute, and remove from heat. Plate apples immediately; discard the sage.

For the sauce:

Shallots

Red Wine

Balsamic Vinegar

Chicken, Duck, or Poulty Stock

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Optionally (untested):

Toasted Coriander Seeds, coarsely ground

Star Anise

Finely mince shallot, add to duck pan, and leave to soften 1-2 minutes. Deglaze with wine, add stock (and herbs, if desired), and reduce by 3/4. Strain through a fine sieve and reserve the shallots. Add balsamic vinegar and any unused glaze and reduce, whisking constantly, until thick. Salt and pepper to taste.

Per Plate:

Make a crescent with half of the apple slices, overlapping on plate. Thinly layer half of the shallots on top.

Slice duck at an angle to make thin strips. Place on top of apples, overlapping, mimicking the original shape. Spoon sauce over the duck in a single line.

Place half of the endives on plate, cut side down, fanned out away from the duck. Spoon additional sauce in lines between the shafts.

Afterthoughts (written in above):
1) The glaze thickens up very, very heavily once you turn the heat off. It's probably best done in a double boiler with some ice water off to the side so you can quickly cool the mix down and see how it's doing. This stuff requires some very, very close attention.

2) Crisping the duck up is probably a job for the broiler or a blowtorch; the glaze burns so quickly that you can't do a proper pan sauce if the skin side touches the pan. I'm actually inclined to brown both sides, then add the glaze and quickly blast with heat to caramelize.

3) Sage doesn't need to be crisped; it perfumes the apples nicely but won't crisp up under those conditions. There's enough going on with this dish as it is.

4) Endives are fragile and difficult to plate.

I'm not sold on having this much going on with the dish; next time I'll slice the duck thinner (original version was 6-8 slices, in future I'll aim for at least twice that) and try eating the meat and the apple together on the same fork.