Recipe for sous vide duck wellington
Sous vide Duck Wellington
Beef Wellington is somewhat of a festive dish, but it doesn’t have to be reserved for special occasions. A Wellington does take some time, but it can easily become part of everyday meals, especially if it’s assembled the day before.
Not long ago, I tried my hand at creating the ultimate everyday meal with my Turkey Wellington sous vide, and I guess I’ve entered a self-proclaimed “Wellington training camp”! I’ve decided to experiment with different types over time.
I also gained some new insights while making my last Wellington. For instance, I didn’t season my duxelles (mushroom mixture) before, which I did this time. And yes, I also learned that the mushroom mixture is apparently called a duxelles.
Additionally, the meat was once again prepared sous vide, but this time I brushed mustard on the meat RIGHT after searing it, because the hot crust allows the meat to absorb the mustard more easily.
– And yes, I was generally a bit more generous with salt and pepper throughout the process.
As you can see, my duxelles unfortunately slipped out a bit during the rolling process.
Regarding the baking, I found the puff pastry turned out a bit too pale—just like it did in my Turkey Wellington. This is a challenge I am still trying to crack, but the main issue is that the meat is already cooked when it goes into the oven. So, you have to be VERY careful not to overcook it!
The solution might be to increase the temperature, but that’s something I will test myself before recommending it.
Duck Wellington with Meat Glue
So how do you make a Wellington with sous vide duck?
The challenge is to create the characteristic round, compact Wellington shape.
I used two large Barbary duck breasts, and I had to use meat glue. The reason is that when something is cooked sous vide, the entire surface of the cut needs to be in contact with the hot water circulation—otherwise, it won’t cook properly.
Even if you left the duck breasts in the water bath for a week, they would remain raw on the inner surfaces if there was the slightest air gap between the two breasts.
With meat glue, I ensure that the two duck breasts are cooked as one large piece of meat in the water bath.
Duck Wellington without Meat Glue
If you don’t want to use meat glue, you need to ensure that the duck breasts are either placed side by side with a gap between them or vacuum-packed individually.
The downside of doing it this way is that it will be really difficult to achieve the proper Wellington appearance.
Meat Glue: Meat Adhesive?
Most people probably remember the meat adhesive debate from 2010.
Meat adhesive is also known as thrombin, which is the actual name of the enzyme. Although it’s a natural substance derived from animals, thrombin is not approved as an additive in Danish products.
Meat adhesive is used in the food industry as a binding agent to combine smaller pieces of meat so that they appear as one large piece. Although this may sound misleading and deceptive, using additives in this way is not uncommon. Today, the gelling agent alginate is used in several types of cold cuts and other foods. For your information, alginate is labeled as E400-404.
In this recipe, I used meat glue, which (for the record) is not exactly the same as meat adhesive. Meat glue consists of the enzyme transglutaminase, which functions similarly to thrombin but has a slightly different enzymatic mechanism.
Granted, transglutaminase is also not approved in Danish foods. Therefore, it cannot be purchased in Denmark. However, it is legal in countries like Sweden, Germany, and England.
Sous Vide Duck Wellington
Equipment
- Sous Vide
- Dehydrator
- Blender
- Frying Pan
- Brush
- Knife
- Bread Knife
Ingredients
Duck breast sous vide
- 650 gram Duck Breast Barbary. I used 2 pieces of 320 grams each
- Salt and Pepper
- Transglutaminase meat glue
- Butter or ghee for frying
- Mustard
Duxelles
- 500 gram Mushroom or other mushrooms
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 pcs. Onion
- Salt and Pepper from the grinder
- Fresh thyme
Duck Wellington
- 2 packages Serrano ham
- Pepper from the grinder
- 1 package Puff Pastry
- Egg Yolk for brushing
- Flake Salt for sprinkling on top
Instructions
Sous vide duck breast: Step 1
- Remove the skin from the duck breasts. I saved the skin and put it in my dehydrator - yum! ?
- Spread a large piece of cling film over the cutting board.
- Place one duck breast on top of the cling film.
- Season the duck breast with salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle meat glue over the duck breast.
- Then place the other piece of duck breast on top.
- Sprinkle with meat glue again.
- Roll it tightly into a cylinder with the cling film around it. Use the film to shape a nice, round cylinder.
- Place the cylinder in the water bath.
- Let it cook at 56 degrees Celsius (133 degrees Fahrenheit) for 4 hours.
- Clean the mushrooms.
- Put the mushrooms in your blender with garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and thyme.
- Blend everything finely.
- Put a pan on the stove and turn on medium heat.
- Pour the mushroom mixture into the pan. No fat needs to be added.
- Let it cook for between 40 and 60 minutes. The purpose of the long cooking time is to completely evaporate the moisture from the mushrooms.
- Remove the pan from the heat when the mixture is dry and "hard".
- Take the duck breast out of the water bath.
- Remove it from the cling film.
- Pat the meat dry with a clean kitchen towel or cloth.
- Place a pan on the stove and turn on high heat.
- Add the fat to the hot pan. I used ghee, but you can also use a 1:1 mixture of butter and oil.
- Place the meat on the hot pan, season with salt and pepper, and let it get a crust. The meat only needs to "kiss" the pan as it is already cooked and should not reach a higher core temperature!
- Remove the meat from the pan.
- Immediately brush the surface with mustard.
- Wrap the meat in a bag and place it in the freezer for an hour.
- Take the meat out of the freezer and place it in the fridge for 2 hours.
- Spread out a large piece of cling film on the table.
- Place the Parma ham on the film. Remember to overlap them by a few centimeters.
- Season the Parma ham with salt and pepper.
- Spread your duxelles on top of the Parma ham with the back of a tablespoon.
- Take the now cooled piece of meat out of the fridge.
- Place the meat on top of your duxelles.
- Roll everything together in the cling film. Again, use the film to shape a firm, round package. The more perfectly round you can make the package, the more beautiful your finished Wellington will be!
- Let it sit on the kitchen counter for 15 minutes to set.
- Spread another large piece of cling film out on the table.
- Place the puff pastry on the film.
- Remove the film from the sausage.
- Place the sausage on the puff pastry.
- Roll everything tightly together in the puff pastry, with the cling film around it. This is where you really create your beautiful Wellington shape, so be meticulous!
- Place the package in the fridge for two hours.
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius (374 degrees Fahrenheit) with fan.
- Take the package out of the fridge and remove the cling film.
- Take a knife and score a beautiful pattern on the surface of the puff pastry using the flat side of the knife blade.
- Brush the puff pastry with egg yolk.
- Take a baking rack and place parchment paper on the rack. You will bake your Duck Wellington on a baking rack to ensure that no condensation forms, which would make the puff pastry soft.
- Place your Duck Wellington on the parchment paper.
- Place the rack in the now hot oven.
- Bake it golden and crispy for 25 to 30 minutes. It depends on your oven. Always keep in mind that the meat is already cooked and should not be cooked further. The purpose of baking is simply to make the puff pastry crispy and delicious.
- Take the finished Duck Wellington out of the oven and let it cool, still on the rack.
- Slice your beautiful Duck Wellington with a bread knife and serve.
