Paktast Recipe Contest (Business) (Home) Ingredients Quantity Duck Breasts with skin on. 6 each Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cumin, Coriander, Turmeric, Cayenne pepper, Fennel, Salt. All dry spices should be ground into powder or fine granules. 2 round teaspoons of each except for salt and cayenne pepper; use only one teaspoon. Chopped fresh Garlic and mashed fresh ginger 2 Tablespoons full of each Olive Oil 6 ounces Bulgur and Chayote Pilaf Course Bulgur 2 cups Cleaned, Peeled and rough diced Chayote 2 medium size Chayotes Red Pepper evenly diced 1 cup Onion evenly diced 1 ½ cups Fresh finely chopped Cilantro 1 cup (about two bunches) Clarified Butter 4 fluid ounces Olive Oil or preferably rendered Duck fat 4 fluid ounces Chicken Broth (very hot, near boiling) 4 cups Salt, fresh ground Pepper To taste Tamarind, Date, Fig, Rose Water Yogurt Sauce Tamarind Concentrate 2 tablespoons Pitted Dates roughly chopped 1 cup Whole Figs preserved in syrup 8-12 ounces including syrup Plain good quality yogurt 16 ounces Rose Water 1 – 4 teaspoons

Method of Preparation 1. Mix all the spices including garlic and ginger to form a very dry powdery paste. 2. Score the skin on the duck breast to form diamond cuts. You want the score to go as deep as the flesh without cutting the flesh. Rub the spice paste all over the duck breast, making shore that you get some into the scores of the skin. 3. Put some olive oil (or rendered duck fat) onto a very hot cast iron skillet. When the fat approaches it’s smoking point, lay the duck breasts skin side down on the hot skillet. After a few minutes, blacken the other sides of the breast. You want as much of the fat to render off of the duck skin as possible, but you don’t want to overcook the breast or burn the skin either. 4. Take the skillet off of the range and put it into a 350-degree convection oven (400-degrees for a standard oven.) The skin should be facing upwards. Leave the breasts in the oven for about 5 minutes. The duck breasts should be cooked to medium rare. Unfortunately, the duck breast on my photo was erroneously cooked to medium. (It is sometimes hard to concentrate at home on a Saturday morning with the kids!) 5. Working very quickly, remove the duck breasts from the oven and slice each one into a fan. Put the bulgur pilaf onto the plate and then ladle a few ounces of the tamarind, fig, and date rose water s and yogurt sauce onto the plate. Quickly put the duck breast fan onto the sauce and garnish the plate. For the photo, I used a kumquat, date and mint leaves as garnish. I would recommend using fresh a fresh turmeric twig as a garnish in place of the mint and a fresh fig in place of the kumquat and date. Tamarind, Date, Fig, Rosewater and Yogurt Sauce 1. Combine Tamarind paste, chopped dates and fig preserves. Blend them until you get a smooth thick paste like tomato paste. Taste it, if it is not sweet enough, add some more fig preserves. 2. Add the yogurt and stir thoroughly. The final sauce should be just a little bit thinner than a Hollandaise sauce. The amount of yogurt you add helps determine the thickness. 3. Add the Rose water a ¼ teaspoon at a time. You want to be able to easily smell the Roses in the sauce, but you don’t want to be able to readily taste it. 4. Just before service, heat the sauce gently. You want to serve it very warm, but not hot. It tastes better when it is no too hot and it will not break on you. Bulgur and Chayote Pilaf 1. Add the Olive oil or rendered duck fat to your pan and get it very hot. 2. Add the onions, red peppers, garlic, and chayote. Add the ingredients in the order listed but wait a few moments in-between each item. Cover the pan and let them sweat. 3. After they have sweated, add the course bulgur and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring frequently. 4. Add the hot chicken broth, chopped cilantro, salt and pepper to taste and stir all the ingredients together. Cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. 5. Use a 2-inch ring mold to help facilitate plate service and enhance appearance.