Smoked Duck & Lentils with Lavender

Name: Smoked Duck & Lentils with Lavender
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; 50 g/1¾ oz unsalted butter; 1 bouquet garni, made with 1 thyme sprig and 1 parsley sprig, tied together with kitchen string; 200 g/7 oz/1 cup Puy lentils, picked over and rinsed; 100 g/3½ oz/½ cup basmati rice; 1 tsp caster (superfine) sugar; 2 small lavender sprigs; 3 tbsp green tea; 2 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar; 1 large orange, washed and scrubbed; 2 cloves; 1 onion, finely chopped; a few chervil leaves; 2 duck breasts, about 200g/7oz each; 1 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil; 1 tbsp clear honey

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
55 min

Appears in

French Countryside Cooking

By Daniel Galmiche

Published 2021

About

You can hot-smoke your duck at home or use a cold-smoked, air-dried duck, sliced and served as a salad with the hot lentils. Either way, corn-fed, free-range birds will give the best results. I enjoy both and usually decide depending on the weather, but these flavour combinations always works well.

Ingredients

For the Crystallized Orange

1 large orange, washed and scrubbed
2 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar

Main course
Gluten-free

Method

To crystallize the orange zest, pare the zest from the orange into fine strips using a peeler or small, sharp knife, cutting away the pith. Put the zest in a small saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Remove from the heat, drain, refresh under cold water, then drain again. Repeat this blanching process.
Return the zest to the p