Dish Introduction
Gordon Ramsay: "Crusted duck breasts sat on a bed of parsnip puree, finished with a sweet and sour endive, garnished with pickled daikon, pickled cherries, and glazed with an amazing port wine sauce. This dish is literally straight off the menu at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. And one of the reasons why we've held three Michelin stars for nearly 25 years. Now, there are a lot of places tonight where this dish could go wrong if you're not paying attention. First off, the cook in the duck, it needs to be caramelized on the skin. And the duck served mid rare. The texture of that smooth parsnip puree, and then think about the symmetry in the plating. Whoever plates this dish really needs to understand the precision and show great finesse."
Initial Setup and Equipment
Gordon Ramsay: "Right, our time starts now. Gas is on. All of you, put all five burners on, because, trust me, we're going to need them. Let's go. Pan for the buckwheat, pan for the duck. Medium sized pan on for the parsnip puree. One for the pickling, and one for your glaze. Five pans on. Let's go."
Duck Preparation
Gordon Ramsay: "Sharpen your knife nicely. The first and foremost important thing is getting that duck in. Let's go, guys. From there. Get your ducks out. Let's go. We're scoring the duck first through the fat. Crisscross tiny squares. That will help release the fat and caramelize it. Same again on the other one. Let's go. Tonight, we're going to be cooking with two duck breasts. Now we nicely season the ducks. Salt, pepper."
Duck Searing and Buckwheat
Gordon Ramsay: "Next up, oil into the pan. Duck breast in, skin side down. That's the noise you want to hear - sizzling. Start searing those duck breasts. Now get your buckwheat and lightly sprinkle that into the pan. Alongside that salt and pepper, and start toasting your buckwheat. Now turn your duck breast over. Mix the buckwheat up a little."
Glaze and Oven
Gordon Ramsay: "Next, get your glaze into a pan, please. Next, get your pickling juice. Pickling juice into a pan. Bring that up to the boil, yes? Now, once you've got the colour on the duck, turn it around fat side down, and in the oven it goes, yes?"
Parsnip Preparation Start
Gordon Ramsay: "Next, we're going to start the parsnip puree. Right, parsnips. Chop off the bottom, Chop off the top."
Gordon Ramsay: "Flambé time. Get your hot wine. Wine that's high. Shake it around. Now in go the shallots. Tilt the pan to flambe. Really important. Let's go. That's going to give sweetness and an amazing body to that beautiful sauce."
Daikon Preparation
Gordon Ramsay: "Next, take your daikon. Okay, One inch, three slices. And then from there, get your cutter and literally push through. Now mandolin. Watch your fingers, please, and slice your daikon. We want about eight, about half a centimetre thick. From there into a bowl, and your pickling juice goes over them. Half of your juice."
Duck Glazing
Gordon Ramsay: "Let's go. Right, going back to the sauce now, sherry vinegar over the shallots. Tablespoon. Let's go. After that, take your ducks out. One more glaze, guys. Final time and glaze your ducks. Now I want the ducks out."
Parsnip Puree
Gordon Ramsay: "Next, get your puree off into the blender. And then puree your parsnips. Let's go, guys. On with the blender. And we blend. 20 seconds of fine puree. Stop and leave it there."
Port Wine Sauce
Gordon Ramsay: "Now take a small pan and sieve your port wine sauce. Let's go. From there, take two knobs of butter. The sauce with your butter."
Cherry Preparation
Gordon Ramsay: "Now get your cherries. Slice them nice and thin, and we just go down. Let's go, guys. You need eight slices of cherries. After that, get your pickling juice over the cherries."
Endive Preparation
Gordon Ramsay: "Right, get your final pan on for your endives. Piping hot pan. Really important. Open them up. We need four yellow and four red leaves, yes? Let's go, guys. Salt over the endive. Pepper, yes? Let's go. From there. Powdered sugar, yeah. And then finally, the sour is the balsamic vinegar over the top. Let's go. Hey, keep it going. You're doing a great job. Pan piping hot. Oil goes in and into the pan. 30 seconds, guys. Let's go, go. Focus serious, and then start rolling them around. Do not overcook these guys."
Final Plating
Gordon Ramsay: "Right, here we go. This is it. Plating time. Let's go. Now get your buckwheat and generously sprinkle over the duck. Let's go, guys. Puree on two nice spoons in the middle, yes? After that, endive goes on. Four yellow, four red around the plate. Let's go. Move those fingers. All the way around, and we form this beautiful star. Now get your daikon and just shape a beautiful circle. After that, four slices of cherry on top of the daikon. After that, get your little flowers and start picking them on top of your duck. Let's go."
What the Contestants Created
