Pato con Mole Negro...Pato con Mole Negro y Esquites de Foie Gras

Pan-roasted magret duck breast crusted with crushed cacao and pasilla chile, served over a velvety 30-ingredient artisanal Mole Negro, accompanied by charred heirloom corn esquites enriched with foie gras and finished with fermented tomatillo pearls.

Ingredients

Cooking Instructions

1. 01

   Prepare the Mole Negro: In a dry comal or cast-iron skillet, toast the pasilla and mulato chiles until deeply blackened and fragrant (without completely charring to white ash). Soak in warm duck stock for 20 minutes.

2. 02

   Sear the sliced plantain in a splash of duck fat until caramelized. Blend the soaked chiles, plantains, charred tomatoes, and soaking stock in a high-speed blender until silky and frictionless.

3. 03

   Pass the purée through a fine chinois into a saucepan. Simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes, stirring continuously, then whisk in the grated Oaxacan chocolate and season with Flor de Sal until glossy, complex, and unctuous.

4. 04

   Prepare the Foie Gras Esquites: In a smoking-hot carbon steel pan, blister the heirloom corn kernels dry until lightly charred. Add the diced foie gras; as it rapidly renders, toss the corn vigorously so it emulsifies in the rich fat. Finish with epazote, lime juice, and microplaned Cotija.

5. 05

   Cook the Duck: Season the scored duck breasts with salt. Place skin-side down in a cold stainless-steel pan over low-medium heat, rendering the fat slowly for 8-10 minutes until the skin becomes paper-thin and ultra-crisp. Flip and baste for 2-3 minutes until the core registers 54°C (129°F) for medium-rare.

6. 06

   Crust and Rest: Brush the crispy duck skin lightly with a reduction of mole, press gently into crushed cacao nibs and toasted pasilla flakes, and allow the meat to rest for 6 minutes before slicing into clean medallions.

7. 07

   Plating: Draw a generous, curved pool of warm Mole Negro onto a wide warmed matte-ceramic plate. Fan sliced duck breast against the mole, spoon a quenelle of warm foie gras esquites alongside, and dot with droplets of fermented tomatillo gel.