Caption: Looking for a decadent dinner idea for the holiday season? We got you! 🙌 This tender duck breast paired with a heavenly velvety vanilla red wine jus, roasted figs and creamy porcini polenta will blow your guests away! 😍 📝 Ingredients For the duck: 2 Barbary duck breasts (approx. 250 g each) 2 tbsp vegetable oil 2 pinches of salt 2 pinches of pepper 1 tbsp butter 1 sprig of thyme 1 clove of garlic For the sauce: 100 g shallots 100 g mushrooms 1 tsp tomato paste 1 tsp sugar 200 ml red wine (e.g. Merlot) 2 bay leaves 400 ml game stock 1 tsp cornflour 1 tbsp Taylor & Colledge Vanilla Extract For the polenta: 20 g dried porcini mushrooms 100 ml water 1 clove of garlic 1 sprig of rosemary 400 ml milk 200 ml double cream, 30 % fat 100 g polenta Salt Pepper For the figs: 4 figs 20 g butter 2 tbsp maple syrup 1 sprig of thyme 2 pinches of salt 2 pinches of pepper Steps: 1. First, for the polenta, soak the porcini mushrooms in the water. Then, using a sharp knife, lightly score the skin of the duck breasts in a diamond pattern, spacing the cuts about 0.5 cm apart. 2. Place the duck breasts skin-side down in a cold pan and place on the stove over medium heat. Fry the duck for 3–4 minutes until the skin is evenly browned. Now turn the duck over and fry for 1–2 minutes on all remaining sides. Remove the duck breasts from the pan, season with salt and pepper, place them on an oven grid and set them aside. 3. Preheat the oven to 160°C with the fan on. 4. For the sauce, peel the shallots and clean the mushrooms if necessary. Finely chop both and roast in the same pan as the duck for 5–6 minutes. Add the tomato paste and sugar and roast for another 1–2 minutes. Deglaze with red wine and reduce the liquid by half. 5. Add the bay leaves and game stock and simmer over low heat for approx. 20 minutes. 6. In the meantime, for the polenta, crush the garlic and wash the rosemary, then bring them to the boil with the milk and double cream in a pot. Drain the soaked porcini mushrooms and collect the water. Add it to the milk mixture. 7. Finely chop the soaked porcini mushrooms with a knife. 8. Pass the milk mixture through a sieve. Bring it to the boil again, add the chopped porcini mushrooms and season well with salt and pepper. Sprinkle in the polenta while whisking and leave to simmer over low heat. 9. Place the duck breasts in the preheated oven for approx. 10 minutes. They should reach a core temperature of approx. 50°C. Then leave to rest briefly. (The temperature will continue to rise slightly.) 10. Wash the figs, drain them and score them crosswise. Heat the butter in a separate small pan over medium heat. Add the figs, syrup, thyme, salt and pepper and sauté them for 30–60 seconds. Then place the pan in the oven for approx. 10 minutes until the figs become soft. 11. Pour the sauce through a fine sieve into a small saucepan. In a separate bowl, mix the cornflour with a little cold water until smooth, then stir it into the sauce to thicken it. Add the Taylor & Colledge Vanilla Extract. 12. For the duck, heat the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the duck breasts with thyme and garlic to reheat them. 13. Stir the polenta again until smooth and slice the duck breasts. Arrange the duck breasts and roasted figs on the creamy porcini polenta and serve with the vanilla red wine sauce. #duck #dinner #finedining #VanillaLover #TaylorAndColledge - @taylorcolledge