Spiced duck breast, maple caramel apple tatin with fresh greens

Preparation time: 45 min

Preheat your Oven at 375 °F

• Mise en place

  Chop down the shallots the finest possible as they are meant for the salad. Peal the apples and with a mandolin slice them very thin so we can bend and fold them without breaking.

  In the tatin mold, put a piece of parchment paper the exact same diameter, at the very bottom. Toss the caramel in. Afterwise you can use a fork to poke holes in the puff pastry and then cut it in 4 nice rounds, again, the same diameter as your tatin mold. Rest for 1 hour in the fridge.

• Laque preparation

  In a small sauce pan, heat up the honey and the 4 spices mix at low heat for five minutes. Reserve.

• Duck magret

  Gently cover with salt & pepper the duck, all round its surfaces. In a non-stick pan, on medium heat, put the duck in. Make sure the duck is on its fatty side and the pan is cold when putting it in. Glaze the magret with its own fat and once it is well colored on both sides put it on a cooking plaque. With a brush, cover the laque on top of it then on to the oven for 6 to 8 minutes and let it rest.

• Tatin caramel & syrup

  Caramel

  Place all the ingredients in a pot, in the order cited on top. Medium-high heat, once you get a light golden color, pour the caramel in the covered tatin molds. Give or take 15g per.

  Syrup

  Heat up all the ingredients together.

• Green salad

  In a salad bowl, mix in the balsamic vinegar, the olive oil and the finely cut shallots. Salt and pepper in at the very last moment, bring everything together with the mesclun salad.

• Tatin pie

  Puff pastry

  In between 2 cooking plates, bake the puff pastry at 400F for 10 to 15 minutes. Make certain they are on a parchment paper. To give it a nice coloration, take off the cooking plate that's on top of the puff pastry, once the cooking is nearly complete - 3 to 4 minutes.

  Tatin pie

  Back in the molds where the hardened caramel is, gently make a thin layer of apples, all around while making sure the entire surface is covered. Right before pouring the maple syrup, poke a couple of holes in the first layer of apples. Off in the oven for 30 mins at 320F and then 300F for 10 mins. Once out of the oven, let it rest for 10 mins or so before stacking it back on the puff pastries that are already cooked.

• Montage

  In the plate of your choice, the tatin pie has to be the main attraction! The slices of duck magret on the side, glazed and just near it, to complete, the salad. Voilà!