This recipe is from the book Roast Figs, Sugar Snow – Food to Warm the Soul, by the multi award-winning Sunday Times bestselling author Diana Henry, originally published in 2005.
The cookbook is being revisited, revised, and refreshed nearly 20 years since, with a new foreword by Nigel Slater and 7 new recipes.
From the cookbook: “Full of comforting delights from cold-weather climes – from the ski slopes of Italy, to the coffee houses of Vienna and Budapest, the rural reaches of New England and beyond – these recipes will bring warmth to your heart as well as your home.
From the author: “I ate this dish as soon as I arrived in the little Fruilian village of Sauris, after a terrible drive in thick snow, including an altercation with a snow plow. Elena, the chef-owner of the inn where I was staying, makes this with her own smoked goose, but I’ve substituted duck as it’s easier to buy.”
Originally I’d thought I would smoke duck breasts, but when I was on D’Artagnan website, one of my main meat and poultry resources, there was smoked Magret duck staring back at me. There was really no reason to smoke it myself.
For the “greens” part of this trio salad, which also includes duck and farro, I had to substitute for the watercress and red endive. I wish I could get these locally, but alas, I cannot. Being that this element of the salad was minor compared to the duck and farro, I substituted arugula and purple cabbage.
After going to my grocery store, I ended up with a spring mix instead of arugula, and blueberries instead of pomegranate. Oh well.
Salad of Smoked Duck with Farro, Red Endive, and Pomegranates
Or, Salad of Smoked Duck with Farro, Purple Cabbage, and Blueberries
For the salad:
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/2 celery stalk, finely chopped
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup pearled farro
4 ounces watercress
1 head of red endive, leaves separated, core discarded
Seeds from 1 pomegranate
6 ounces smoked duck breast, cut into neat slices
For the dressing:
Smidgen of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon creme de cassis
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons hazelnut oil
Flaky sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Sauté the onion and celery in the olive oil and butter until soft but not colored. Add the farro, stir around in the buttery juices and cover with 1 1/2 inches water. Cook until the farro is tender (25-35 minutes) then drain really well.
To make the dressing, put the mustard, vinegar, and salt and pepper in a pitcher and whisk in all of the other ingredients with a fork. Mix one-third of it with the warm farro, then season.
In a bowl, combine the watercress, endive and pomegranate seeds and add the rest of the dressing. (In this case, the spring lettuces, purple cabbage, and blueberries.)
Divide the salad between 4 plates. I decided to add cooked peas.
Top with the smoked duck and put a large spoonful of the dressed farro alongside.
In spite of all of the substitutions, the salad with smoked duck and dressed farro was superb! I will be making this, or some version of this salad, again. I added feta to the mix.
I will also be making a giant amount of the dressing for more salads.