South African kumquats and Pinot Noir grapes

Chef Lennard Marais heads the kitchen at La Residence hotel in Franschhoek, South Africa. He uses only the best local and seasonal produce to create wonderful Cape Winelands dishes for guests, taking many of his cues from the hotel’s garden and surrounding vineyards.

Here, he shares his new (and mouthwatering) recipe for Duck Breast With Kumquat Chutney, prepared especially for Andrew Harper readers.

DUCK BREAST WITH KUMQUAT CHUTNEY

A recent stroll through our garden showed that one can’t miss the vibrant yellowish-orange kumquat fruits. I have seen guests and staff happily eating them skin and all! In our kitchen, we use them for candying, preserves, marmalade and jelly. Kumquats are the ideal fruit to use when making traditional sweet-and-sour Cape chutney. This is the perfect accompaniment to serve with spiced duck breast, a wonderful French-inspired Cape Winelands dish!

Lennard Marais, Executive Chef at La Residence

Ingredients:

Duck:

-¼ cup fresh lime juice

 -1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger         

 -1 tablespoon olive oil

-3 garlic cloves, crushed

-6 boneless duck breasts

-¼ teaspoon salt

Chutney:

-1 cup kumquats, halved and seeded

-2/3 cup sugar

-½ cup white wine vinegar                  

 -¼ cup finely chopped red onion

 -1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger

 -½ chili, finely chopped

-½ cup dried cherries or cranberries

-¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil

-2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley

-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Preparation

Duck:

Combine the lime juice, fresh ginger, olive oil and crushed garlic in a zip-top plastic bag. Add the duck, seal the bag and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Remove the duck from the marinade and sprinkle it with salt. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat with a little olive oil. Add the duck and cook on each side until desired degree of doneness. (Medium rare is about 6 minutes.)

Chutney:

Combine the kumquats, sugar, white wine vinegar, red onion, ginger and chili in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Add the cherries/cranberries and simmer for a further 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the basil, parsley and lime juice.

Spoon the chutney over the duck breast and serve with blanched green beans.

Wine Pairing Suggestion:

A light Pinot Noir is a classic accompaniment to most duck dishes. The fruitiness and berry notes in the wine compliment the gamey flavor of the meat. For this particular recipe, a spicy and warming new world Pinot Noir would work nicely with the ginger, garlic and cloves.

Try: Bouchard Finlayson Galpin Peak Pinot Noir 2009.