food
Sex and The City — Human Sushi Platter and Manhattan Duck
This time, we're making recipes that give a nod to one of Laura's favorite films, 2008's Sex and The City. Loom forward to a posh, alcohol-soaked duck recipe and a sushi spread displayed on a human platter.
food
Sex and The City — Human Sushi Platter and Manhattan Duck
This time, we're making recipes that give a nod to one of Laura's favorite films, 2008's Sex and The City. Loom forward to a posh, alcohol-soaked duck recipe and a sushi spread displayed on a human platter.
Supplies
- Bourbon whisky (100 milliliters)
- Cherry brandy (50 milliliters)
- 1 tablespoon of angostura bitters
- Handful of muscavado sugar (50g)
- A few sprigs of rosemary
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 2 duck breasts
- Large maris piper potatoes (800g)
- Whole milk (150 milliliters)
- Unsalted butter (150g)
- 2 endives
- 3 tablespoons of caster sugar
- A glug of vermouth
- A handful of kirsch soaked cherries
Steps
- Add the bourbon, kirsch, bitters, sugar, rosemary and thyme into a large bowl for the marinade.
- Submerge the duck breasts in the marinade and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours (preferably overnight).
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Scatter the potatoes with plenty of salt and bake for 1 1/4 hours.
- Melt the butter in the milk and keep warm.
- Use a clean tea towel to peel the hot baked potatoes.
- Mash the potato middles using a potato ricer (or a masher) and season well.
- Stir the milk and butter into the potatoes a little at a time, incorporating well and keep the mash warm.
- Remove the duck breasts from the marinade. Dry them well.
- Season the duck and place skin side down in a dry pan.
- Cook the breasts over a medium heat, discarding any fat every so often.
- Remove the ducks from the heat when the skin is deep golden brown and crispy (about 10 minutes).
- Turn the duck breasts over and put the pan in the oven for 10 minutes.
- Halve the endives then remove the cores and the outermost leaves.
- Sprinkle the endives with 1 tablespoon of caster sugar and place in a hot dry pan.
- Caramelise well, then pour in the marinade, vermouth and chuck in the cherries.
- Cover the endive and cook for 5 minutes, until tender. Remove the endive, turn the heat up and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of caster sugar.
- Bubble the remaining marinade until it becomes a sticky sauce.
- Serve the duck with a good helping of mash, a half of endive and a generous drizzle of sauce.
Supplies
- Sushi rice (250g)
- Water (275 milliliters)
- Rice vinegar (60 milliliters)
- Caster sugar (30g)
- 1 pork fillet
- 1 avocado
- 1 cucumber
- 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon of wasabi paste
- 3 nori sheets
- A small handful of toasted sesame seeds
- A small handful of pickled ginger
- 6 king prawns, cooked
- 1 rump steak, seared
- Soy sauce, for dipping
Steps
- Wash the rice in water until the water becomes almost clear.
- Drain the rice and add to a saucepan with the 275 milliliters of water.
- Bring to a boil then reduce the heat, cover the saucepan and simmer for 20 minutes before removing from the heat.
- Heat another small saucepan and add the vinegar, sugar and half a teaspoon of salt.
- Dissolve the sugar then pour it over the cooked rice, transfer to a tray and spread out to cool and dry slightly.
- Preheat an oven to 200°C.
- Season the pork well with salt and pepper and heat oil in a pan.
- Add the pork and brown the fillet all over then stick it in the oven for 10 minutes, until the pork is just cooked through.
- Remove the pork from the oven and let it rest, saving the juices.
- Slice the avocado, cucumber and pork fillet into long strips, about 0.5 x 0.5 centimeters.
- Mix half of the mayonnaise with the wasabi and the other half with the pork juices.
- Cover your sushi mat with a sheet of clingfilm.
- Cut the nori sheets in half to get two rectangles.
- Spread one nori rectangle with a layer of compact sushi rice, leaving a lip of nori along the long side of the sheets. Repeat with the second sheet, without pushing the rice right to edge without leaving the lip.
- Scatter some toasted sesame seeds over the rectangle without the lip and flip the sheet over so that the rice is on the bottom.
- Lay the cucumber and pickled ginger along one long side of the nori sheet, end to end. Arrange the pork fillet along side the vegetables.
- Use the mat to roll up the nori around the filling, ensuring that the mat is not folded into the rice.
- Compress the roll with the mat.
- Remove the roll from the mat and refrigerate for 20 minutes before slicing into 8 bite-sized pieces.
- Grab the remaining rectangle of rice and nori and place onto the sushi mat, nori side down.
- Lay the avocado along the middle of the rice end to end.
- Snap the prawns in half and arrange in lines either side of the avocado.
- Use the mat to roll up the nori around the filling, ensuring that the mat is not folded into the rice.
- Compress the roll with the mat, then leave to rest in the fridge before slicing.
- Use wet hands to shape a small blob of rice.
- Repeat until you have 8 rectangles of about 2 centimeters x 3 centimeters.
- Slice the beef into thin strips and drape over the rice.
- Serve the sushi with a soy sauce dip.