By Haley Burke of Mella

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Roast Duck with Pomegranate Sauce

Serves 6

Duck Ingredients

• 1 Whole Duck
• Salt and Pepper

Pomegranate Sauce Ingredients

• 1 Cup Pomegranate Juice
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/2 Cup Red Wine
• Juice And Zest From 1/2 An Orange
• Pinch Of Salt
• Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
• Arils From 1 Pomegranate 

Duck Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line the bottom and sides of a 9x13” baking dish or roasting pan with foil. Place a roasting rack or wreath in the pan.
2. Remove innards from duck. Save to use at your leisure for stock (neck) and paté (liver). Pat the duck dry with a paper towel. With the breast side up, make crosshatch patterns with a sharp knife across the skin.
3. Generously salt and pepper the inside and outside of the duck.
4. Place in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes. Carefully remove the duck from the oven and pour out the grease (to be saved for potatoes or other cooking endeavors). Place back in the oven for an additional 50 minutes.
5. Check temperature. You are looking for 165 degrees, taken from the inner thigh. If it hasn’t reached that temperature yet, return to oven and check as often as necessary.
6. Let the duck rest for approximately 15 minutes before carving. Top with pomegranate sauce.

Pomegranate Sauce Directions

Add pomegranate juice to a medium saucepan and cook over medium-low heat. Cook for 30 minutes, until the juice has reduced by about half. Watch carefully. If it starts to get too thick and sticky, turn it down to low and move to the next step.

Add sugar, vinegar, wine, orange juice and zest, and a pinch of salt to the reduced pomegranate juice and stir together. Continue cooking over medium-low heat for an additional 20 minutes. 

Add pomegranate arils, and season to taste with pepper. Heat an additional few minutes to bring arils up to temperature.

Serve over duck.

Potato Dominoes

Makes 12

Ingredients

• 6 Large Russet Potatoes
• Duck Fat
• Coarse Salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet or two smaller ones with parchment paper. 
2. Cut off the ends and sides of potatoes so that they are completely devoid of skin, and are the shape of a rectangular prism (see below).      
3. Using a mandolin set to a thickness of about 2-2.5mm, carefully (seriously, be careful) slice the potatoes. Arrange sliced potatoes overlapping one another (like a little rectangle of fallen dominoes). Each potato should make two rectangle “dominoes”.
4. Using a pastry brush, brush cooled (but still liquid) duck fat onto the potatoes (about 2 tsp per domino). Sprinkle with salt.
5. Bake for 35 minutes, until slices are golden brown and crispy around the edges. Let sit to cool for 5 minutes before carefully moving to a serving dish.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Honey, Bomba, and Fried Shallots

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 3 Medium Shallots, Peeled And Sliced Into Rings
• About 2 Cups Olive Oil, Separated
• 2 Lbs Medium Brussels Sprouts, Trimmed And Halved
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp Honey
• 1 Tbsp Bomba Calabrian Chili Sauce

Directions

1. Place sliced shallots in a small saucepan. Cover with enough olive oil to completely submerge the shallots. Turn heat to medium and cook. Stir constantly until shallots are golden brown (about 10 minutes). 
2. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to soak up excess oil. Sprinkle with salt. Reserve.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Toss Brussel sprouts in 2 tablespoons of oil and spread into a single layer on the prepared pan. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt. 
4. Bake for 30 minutes.
5. Meanline, in a small bowl stir together honey, chili sauce, and 2 Tbsp olive oil. (Note: if the honey is too sticky to stir as is warm it slightly before mixing.)
6. After Brussels sprouts have cooked for 30 minutes, turn the oven down to 300 degrees. Carefully remove Brussels sprouts and toss in the chili honey mixture. Place them back on the sheet tray and into the oven for an additional 10 minutes. Brussels sprouts should be golden brown and crispy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside.
7. Place on a serving player or bowl and top with shallots.

ABOUT

Haley Burke and Maria McLeod love to create beautiful gatherings, both for their friends and Mella clients in Salt Lake City.

Mella: Gatherings and Events exists to bring people together at the table to celebrate both big events and the everyday through beautiful food and carefully curated spaces.

 @mellaslc