Servings: 4
Cumberland sauce
1 tbsp butter
4 tsp shallot, finely chopped
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp orange juice
1 tbsp ginger, grated
1/2 cup port
1/2 cup veal demi-glace
1/2 cup red currant jelly
Salt and pepper
1 large piece of orange peel, white pith removed and cut into matchsticks
Blue-winged Teal
4 blue-winged teals (a small dabbling duck found in North America), feathers, head, wing tips, feet and innards removed from each, livers set aside
Kosher salt
Cracked pepper
4 tbsp butter
2 sprigs fresh thyme
4 thick slices of sourdough bread
2 shallots, finely chopped
1/3 cup brandy
1 1/2 ounces foie gras
Method
To make the Cumberland Sauce, place the butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until soft, stirring often. Deglaze the pan with vinegar and cook until the vinegar has reduced away. Add the orange juice, ginger and port and cook until this mixture is reduced by half. Add the veal demi-glace and red currant jelly and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened. Strain the sauce, season with salt and pepper and stir in the orange peel. Set aside.
For the teal, preheat the oven to 450 F. Season the birds with salt and pepper.
Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a large frying pan set over medium-high heat. When the butter starts to foam, add the thyme sprigs, then quickly sear blue-winged teals on all sides. Transfer birds to a roasting pan and roast in the oven for 8 to 9 minutes. (Set aside the frying pan for the next step.) Remove the birds from the roasting pan and let rest for 4 minutes on a cutting board.
Place the roasting pan with drippings over medium-high heat, then add the bread slices and cook until toasted. Set aside the toasted bread.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the frying pan over medium-high heat. While the butter foams, roughly chop the blue-winged teal livers and foie gras, season with salt and pepper, then sear in the frying pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often. Deglaze the pan with brandy, add remaining tablespoon of butter, then remove the pan from the heat.
To serve, place toasts on plates, divide livers on top and put a roasted teal on top of each. Drizzle reheated Cumberland sauce over each plate and serve with mashed carrots or turnips, wild-rice pilaf and a salad of bitter greens.