Smoked duck breast with braised savoy, cheese spätzle and cherry sauce

I had been thinking about doing this for a while, I had a wild duck in the freezer, but then thought that it may be better to use a free range one from the market. So that was it, bought it, scored it, salted and peppered it, rubbed it in game spices and herbs, wrapped it in cling film and forgot about it over night.

I had also bought a nice Savoy (Wirsingkohl) cabbage, a jar of cherries. The spätzle are not at all difficult, just takes a bit of patience,

So Sunday morning, I lit the my dome smoker, and placed a metal dish with beech sawdust, a sprig of rosemary, sage and oregano, a few bay leaves and a small handful of crushed juniper berries placed the lot on top of the coals. Lid down and waited until it had raised its head of smoke.

 Placed the duck breast skin side down on an aluminium grill tray and smoked for 10 minutes,

turned it over and smoked for another 5. Removed and let it rest, this process is for smoking not for cooking, so it should still be quite raw in the middle, with only the outside being crisp and smoky.

Went out for a pint and when I came home, made the spätzle,



1 egg

150 g of plain flour

salt, pepper, thyme and oregano

small handful of grated hard cheese (Berg Käse)

some milk to make a thick batter



Beat the egg, flour, milk, salt and pepper together until bubbles rise, add the herbs and cheese and beat once again. allow to stand for 1/2 hr.

In the mean time shred the Savoy and blanche, heat a little butter in a pan, add a sliced shallot and soften, add 50g of diced speck, when all is translucent, add the cabbage and sauté.

In another pan heat a little olive oil and fry the duck breast skin side down until nice and crisp, place in a pre-heated oven (180° C).

Now in a pan with boiling water scharb your spätzle (using a board and either the back of a knife or God Forbid a spätzle press). When they rise to the surface place them in a bowl with cold water. Heat some butter in a frying pan and sauté the "Käse Späzle"

Remove the duck breast cover and allow to rest.

During all this make your cherry sauce, put a couple of tablespoons of preserved cherries in a small pan along with some of the juice, add a little mustard powder, a slug of port and reduce until it thickens, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper and add a couple of sprigs of thyme, cover and allow to infuse.

Plate up the Savoy, Spätzle and Duck and pour over the cherry sauce,

It was quite a large breast so it did in fact do 2 days, it was quite wonderful, smoky, herby and gamey. It was crispy outside, juicy and pink inside.