Pan-seared duck breast with spring salad
At Little D’s in Asheville, N.C., lead line cook Spencer Edmunds dry ages duck for three days to dry out the skin. Then the breast is scored and seared in a carbon steel pan with salt and pepper, allowing the fat to render out and the skin to crisp up.
He makes a miso citrus glaze by reducing grapefruit, lemon, and lime juice with brown sugar and miso and lets the duck breast rest in that before plating it.
Edmunds and chef de cuisine Faith Hall developed a savory custard spiced with smoked paprika and onion and garlic powder, which is used to make a bread pudding using sourdough made by pastry chef Hillary Lamont.
That’s plated with the duck along with strawberry crème fraîche, which is meant to spotlight local strawberries and is made by folding a strawberry-honey purée into the crème fraîche.
Also reflecting the season is a salad of pickled green strawberries, shaved asparagus, fava beans, English peas, shaved radish, and a chiffonade of ramp leaves in a Champagne vinaigrette.
Price: $32