Maple and chili glazed duck with creamy barley risotto

Creamy, buttery, cheesy risotto is one of my favorite dishes. While it's traditionally made with arborio rice,  this version is made with pearl barley. Served with decadent duck breast, this dish is sure to impress your guests. But what will impress you, is how easy this dish is to prepare. ( serves 4)

In a small pot, bring maple syrup, beef broth and chili flakes to a boil.  Reduce heat  and simmer for about 15 minutes. Until liquid reduces to about half. In another large pot,  heat stock and keep on low heat.

 In a third large pot, on med high heat  saute chopped onion and shallots in 2tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of cooking oil until soft (about 5 minutes). Add rinsed barley. One ladle at a time, add hot stock and stir until liquid is absorbed, repeat this step until all stock has been added to barley. Stir continuously, to keep barley from sticking to pot. This takes about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another saute pan, heat on med high  1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Once butter is completely melted, add chopped mushrooms, fresh ground pepper and shoyu ( organic soy sauce) or salt. Saute until soft (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat and add peas. Set aside. 

Once all of the stock has been absorbed, remove pot from heat and add grated cheese and 2 tbsp of butter  and stir.  Also stir in mushroom and pea mixture. Remember to taste while cooking and add seasoning where you feel it's necessary.  When all is combined, put lid on pot and set aside. Risotto will stay hot until you're ready to serve.

Take, thawed duck breasts and score skin. ( with a sharp knife, cut  through the skin, almost all the way through the layer of fat, on a diagonal, you'll cut a checkerboard pattern) Season duck, with salt, pepper and paprika.

In a saute pan, heat 1 tbsp of butter, and 1 tbsp of cooking oil on med high heat. When butter reaches a sizzling point, gently place duck, skin side down into hot pan. Cook, for 5 minutes and turn over and cook for another 8 minutes. ( for med rare) *

Remove duck from pan, cover with aluminum foil and let sit for 10 minutes.

Slice duck and serve over risotto. Spoon about 2 tbsp of  maple glaze over duck .  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 Thawed duck breasts ( purchased from Aubrey's Butcher shop http://www.aubreysmeats.ca/ )
• 1/2 cup real maple syrup
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 tsp of chili flakes
• 1.8L of chicken (or vegetable) stock (2 standard containers)
• 2 cups of rinsed pearl barley ( hulled in great too, but be prepared to double your cooking time)
• 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 cups of mushrooms, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups sweet peas, fresh or frozen
• 2 tbsp shoyu ( organic soy sauce)
• 1 tsp of paprika
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese ( I used romano pedano)
• 6 tbsp butter ( approximately)
• 3 tbsp cooking oil (approximately)
• salt and pepper to taste

*  Cooking with butter alone is fine, but often butter will burn. By adding a little cooking oil, you retain the flavor you get from butter, but keep it from burning. Oil has a much higher smoke point than butter.