Sandra‘s Closet

ANGEL

Sautéed duck breast in a pink praline crust,
beets, turnips and raspberries, beet and citrus sauce

Intense Mexican mole sauce

Serves 4

Preparation time: 45 min.

Cooking time: 7 to 8 min. (cooling time: 5 min.)

Duck breast

• 4 duck breasts
• 100g (1cup) of pink pralines
• 50g (1/5 cup) of duck fat
• Salt
• Espelette pepper

Cut the skin of the duck breasts very thin with a small knife, taking care not to cut the fat all the way through to the meat.

Crush the pralines by wrapping them in a towel. Use the bottom of a heavy pot to crush them so that the pralines “burst”.

Season the duck breasts with salt and Espelette pepper. Place them in a very hot pan, skin side down, in a small amount of duck fat.

Cook on high heat for 4 to 5 minutes to sear the fat, which will melt.

Remove pan from heat and remove the separated fat from the pan, turning the duck breasts over to the meat side. Finish cooking them for 3 minutes in an oven preheated to 350° F (180°C).

Remove from the oven and take the duck breasts out of the pan. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

Finally, dip the skin side of the duck breasts in the crushed pralines and continue to sauté the “skin and pralines side” for 2 minutes in a very hot pan.

Garnish

• 1 bunch of red beets
• 1 bunch of yellow beets
• 1 bunch of new turnips
• 50g (1/5 cup) of butter
• Salt
• Espelette pepper

Peel the beets and turnips. Boil them separately in salted water.

Just before serving the dish, melt some butter in a pan and roll the beets and turnips in it to glaze them.

Beet sauce

• 250g (1/2lb) of beets
• Lemon zest cut with a peeler
• Grapefruit zest cut with a peeler
• Orange zest cut with a peeler

Use a juicer to extract beet juice. Pour it into a small saucepan with the citrus zest.

Reduce the sauce by ¾ over gentle heat until it becomes syrupy.

The little extra: mole sauce

• 25cl ( 1 cup) of the cooking juice from poultry
• 25g (1.1/3 tbsp) of Mexican mole paste (otherwise, bitter cocoa paste)
• Raspberry vinegar
• Salt
• Espelette pepper

Melt the mole paste in a small pan, pour in the cooking juice and reduce by 1/3.

Season with salt and Espelette pepper and add a few drops of raspberry vinegar.

Presentation:

• 30g (1/3 cup) of beet sprouts
• 50g (1/2 cup) of raspberries

Cut each duck breast into 3 pieces and set them out on 4 plates.

Display the beets, turnips and a few raspberries on a serving plate, then pour a thin line of beet juice over the vegetables and top with beet sprouts.

Taste as is at first, then add the mole sauce.
Bon appétit!

LoL, Sandra

Thierry Mugler continues to overstep the boundaries of traditional perfume-making with his exceptional and legendary perfumes to launch more of his extraordinary creations. By venturing into unexplored territory, he appears where he is least expected.

The idea: experimenting beyond the innovative production processes
to create breathtaking perfumes.

The challenge: alter the structure without distorting the nature
of the four iconic fragrances by Thierry Mugler.

With the 2009 introduction of ‘Liqueurs de Parfum’, he drew on the ancestral know-how of winemakers to age his fragrances in wooden casks.

This year, Thierry Mugler Parfums continues to experiment, focusing its research on one of the senses showcased with its very first creation: taste.

With the 1992 release of Angel, Thierry Mugler invented a new olfactory family of “Oriental – Gourmand” fragrances, based on a “delicious” facet featuring red berries and praline notes.

In 2010, he repeated the experience with Womanity, creating the very first “Sweet – Savory” fragrance, which utilizes an exclusive molecular extraction process to achieve the fig and caviar accords.

An unforgettable experience… Today, Thierry Mugler invites perfume lovers on a journey of fragrances and flavors with his new collection: the Taste of Fragrance.

With the ‘Taste of Fragrance’, the precursor of Haute Gourmand Perfumery is guilty of twisting fragrances, offering the rediscovery of Angel, Alien, Womanity and A*Men through their fantasized flavors.

Thierry Mugler allowed the perfumers full freedom, challenging them to broaden their palettes of ingredients and introducing into each composition a “taste enhancer”.

An explosive collection of four gourmand fragrances,
with superbly concocted notes that will nearly make your mouth water…

Angel More Gourmand Than Gourmand (CHF 99)
– spiked with cocoa powder for a sweet and angelic scent.

Alien Carnal Sensuality (CHF 85)
– floral notes added with wood, amber and salted butter caramel for a sensual-sophisticated scent.

Womanity Sweet Femininity With A Savory Kick (CHF 109)
– sweet notes added with fig chutney which creates a feminine scent.

A*Men Spicy Instinct (CHF 105)
– enhanced with red pepper to bring out contrasting scents making a powerful fragrance.

All four limited editions are available now.

Taking this exercise in style a step further and establishing a genuine parallel between Haute Cuisine and Haute Perfumery, Thierry Mugler Parfums called on Hélène Darroze, one of the leading Michelin-starred French Chefs, to invent four recipes inspired by the new interpretations of these four fragrances.

Four sensory dishes for a ‘Taste of Fragrance’  MUGLERIAN dinner to be published on Sandra’s Closet during the next days. Probably an inspiration for your holiday feast…

LoL, Sandra

For the holiday season, s.Oliver presents within their „From me to you“ campaign (photographed by Kristian Schuller) some pretty cute Christmas presents for the whole family.

Newspaper Tote, € 29.95

Hot-water bottles, € 19.95

LoL, Sandra