Frank's Duck Wellington for Two

Ingredients for the duck:

• Duck breast (magret de canard), 200-250 gram (7-8+ ounces) per person, including the skin; well chilled in fridge
• 2 slices (about 1 tablespoon each) of duck liver (foie gras de canard; use mi-cuit, not fresh
• liver; do not use "pate" or other petfood)
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange zest
• salt
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, 25x20 cm (10x8 inches), 3 mm thick (1/8 inch)
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon milk

Ingredients for the Compote de Figues:

• 150 grams (5 oz.) dried figs (do not use figs that were dried in biblical times; they still need to be soft and somewhat moist)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of orange blossom honey
• 1 or 2 shots of cognac or armagnac (do (not) worry, the alcohol will entirely evaporate in the process)
• tiny (!) pinch of salt

Instructions for the fig compote:

• remove the stems from the figs
• dice the figs (about 1/4 - 3/8 inch)
• put all compote ingredients in a sauce pan
• add water such that the ingredients are about half covered
• bring to slow simmer, while stirring regularly
• when reduced to a very thick consistency and fig skins are soft, remove from heat, and cool to room temperature. When cold, should be hard to "cut" with a spoon.
• can be made well ahead, and can be kept for other dishes (such as foie gras mi-cuit aux figues or terrine de foie gras au compôte de figues)

Instructions for the duck:

• preheat oven to 220 °C (425 °F)
• put baking sheet in oven (to ensure bottom of puff pastry gets baked)
• remove the fat from the duck breast (very easy when the meat has been chilled first); retain 2 tablespoons of the fat
• melt the duck fat in a skillet
• quickly sear the meat on all sides (3-4 minutes total)
• cool to the touch for several minutes
• towel dry
• sprinkle the fresh orange zest,salt, and fresh ground pepper on all sides
• make incision in the top of each piece (first across, then horizontally to in both directions to make a pocket; be careful not to cut all the way through)
• insert tablespoon of foie gras; make sure it doesn't stick out above the meat (otherwise it will run out and prevent dough at bottom to cook)
• cover with 2 tablespoons of compote
• cut out two 4 to 5 inch (10-13 cm) diameter circles of pastry dough
• drape each over one of the duck breast pieces, wrap around, and pinch the edges in four or five places to enclose the duck
• blend the egg and milk, brush this glaze over the pastry
• if desired, decorate the tops with cutouts made from pastry trimming
• transfer to the hot (!!!) baking sheet
• bake 12-15 minutes for medium-rare
• serves two; serve with foie gras and fig compote as appetizer, and vegetables such as steamed baby asparagus [Frank Dörenberg]