CONFIT DUCK / CHESTNUT PASTRY - FRENCH RECIPES

Last weekend I went to Paris for a couple of days, and in between lots of walking and drinking coffee and wine (not at the same time!) I ate as much French food as possible - snails, steak, rum baba, steak tartare, oysters and a croissant for my final breakfast. Then yesterday I went to check out the soon to open Les 110 de Taillevent on Cavendish Square - an exquisite French restaurant that serves up lots of classics, alongside newer dishes (lamb sweetbread and crayfish vol au vent) with wines paired to each dish. So you could say I'm enjoying French food and wine at the moment! With all these great opportunities to eat out, it is also nice to cook at home, so I've been working with Expedia on their "world on a plate challenge" which celebrates the ultimate foodie holiday destinations around the world, which obviously include Paris. I've come up with a couple of recipe ideas below - not necessarily 100% French, but using delicious French ingredients with a bit of a twist.

CONFIT DUCK, CELERIAC PUREE, PLUM SAUCE

Serves 2
2 confit duck legs
Half small celeriac
250ml whole milk
25g butter
25ml double cream
Salt and pepper
4 plums
1 shallot
2 star anise
1 tsp coriander seeds
100ml water
50ml soy
50g caster sugar
Coriander
Pomegranate seeds

Put the duck legs, flesh side down, in a frying pan and heat gently for 20 minutes.

While the duck is cooking, peel the celeriac and chop in small squares. Add to a saucepan with the milk and top up with water so the celeriac's fully submerged. Cook for 10-15 mintues, or until soft, then strain, and blend with the butter and double cream, and salt and pepper to taste. (You could also make this dish with pulled pork instead of duck, and add some truffle paste or truffle oil to the celeriac puree at this point).

To make the plums sauce, finely chop the plums and shallot, and add to a pan with the star anise, coriander, water and soy sauce. Cook for 10 minutes, then blend and sieve.

After the duck has cooked for 20 minutes flip it over so it's skin side down and cook for a further five minutes.

To plate up, take two flat soup bowls and divide the celeriac between the two. Top with shredded confit duck, chopped coriander and pomegranate seeds, and finish with the plum sauce.

Photos by Chelone Wolf - Twitter / Facebook / Instagram

Another French inspired dish that's quick and easy to pull together is:

SWEET CHESTNUT PASTRIES. Take a sheet of puff pastry, roll it out, and slice into rectangles. Prick all over with a fork and cook for 15 minutes at 200C, or until golden. While the pastry is cooking and then cooling, whip a large tub of double cream until soft peaks form. Fold in a tube of chestnut puree, then spread a thick layer of the chestnut cream over the pastry rectangles. Chop some whole chestnuts, slice up some figs and sprinkle over the top of the cream.

I think Autumn is the perfect time of year to indulge in all those luxurious French ingredients, and it's definitely my favourite time of year to visit Paris - it's so beautiful there around now, and the perfect temperature for lots of walking, eating and wine - for last minute deals to Paris, and beyond, check out the Expedia website.