Duck Breast with Potato Balls

Ingredients

• 800 g waxy potatoes
• Salt
• 4 duck breast fillets (about 220 g each)
• pepper (ground)
• 1 onion
• 1 chili pepper
• 150 ml poultry stock
• 100 ml apple juice
• 8 figs
• 1 tbsp liquid honey
• 75 g wheat flour
• 2 tbsp potato starch
• 1 egg
• flour (for dusting)
• 2 tbsp butter

Instructions

1. 1.

   Wash, peel, and boil the potatoes in plenty of salted water for about 30 minutes until tender.

2. 2.

   Preheat the oven to 100°C with both top and bottom heating.

3. 3.

   Rinse the duck breasts, pat dry, and season with salt and pepper. In a hot pan, brown the skin side for about 5 minutes. Flip and sear the meat side briefly. Place on a rack in the oven (fat drips into a pan below) and cook for about 50 minutes until pink inside. Drain the fat from the pan.

4. 4.

   Peel and finely chop the onion. Wash, halve, deseed, and finely chop the chili pepper. Sauté both in the hot pan briefly. Deglaze with stock and apple juice, simmering for about 5 minutes. Peel the figs and cut into strips. Add to the sauce and drizzle with honey. Season with salt, let it gently warm, and keep warm.

5. 5.

   Drain the potatoes well and mash finely. Let cool slightly, then knead in flour, potato starch, ½ tsp salt, and egg until smooth.

6. 6.

   Dust a work surface and your hands with flour. Shape walnut-sized dough balls from the mixture, flatten slightly, and press a small indentation into the center with a finger or spoon handle. Boil the dumplings in plenty of simmering salted water for about 5 minutes until they float to the surface. Remove and drain well.

7. 7.

   Sauté the dumplings in melted butter in a hot pan. Season lightly with salt and serve on plates.

8. 8.

   Remove the duck from the oven, let rest briefly, slice, and place atop the dumplings. Pour fig sauce over and serve.