Duck Breasts - How to Cook?
Discussion
Score the breast on the skin side all the way through the fat - rub in a good amount of Maldon - whack under an insanely hot grill of 5 minutes then rest. It should be served quite rare IMO
I usually have it with a rocket & parmasan salad with reduced balsamic. Not exactly fine dining but it is super tasty.
I usually have it with a rocket & parmasan salad with reduced balsamic. Not exactly fine dining but it is super tasty.
I like duck breast simply pan-fried, on a bed of goose fat roasted root vegetables in a bit of garlic and thyme, with a chicory and orange salad to finish off.
Alternatively, the oriental treatment: mix together a marinade of sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic and ginger. Pan fry the marinated breasts and serve on soba noodles sprinkled with togarashi seasoning, plus some vinegared cucumber on the side.
Alternatively, the oriental treatment: mix together a marinade of sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic and ginger. Pan fry the marinated breasts and serve on soba noodles sprinkled with togarashi seasoning, plus some vinegared cucumber on the side.
If I can just pipe up here.
The thing about duck is that it is a fairly fatty bird, so I like to deal with that a little first. So, what I generally do is score the skin then put it slin side down in a pan on medium to low heat. This allows you to render a lof of the fat out of the breast without burning the daylights out of the skin.
Once you have about 2-3mm of fat (personal preference) then turn up the heat, flip it over to sear it, [u]then[/u] whack it in the oven for a bit, much as you would a nice steak. Medium-rare is prob the best way to serve it. Finish off by shoving it under the grill to crisp up the skin.
Incidentally, the duck fat is good for roasting your spuds in and once you've drained that, you can then deglaze the pan to make your sauce.
So, slow pan fry on skin side only, low heat.
Turn up heat, sear other side, remove and rest.
Pour off fat to roast [insert root veg here]
Deglaze pan to make sauce
Throw breasts in oven, finish under grill whilst warming plates.
Slice, serve.
BTW - again as it can be fatty, a slightly sweet / tart sauce is ideal as it cuts through the fat. Hence why orange is common, as is cherry. You could try cranberry, raspberry or even gooseberry if you can find them. Or possibly sear some pink grapefruit segments to serve with it?
ETA : MChicane's Asian option would be good too, again note acid (vinegar) with duck..
The thing about duck is that it is a fairly fatty bird, so I like to deal with that a little first. So, what I generally do is score the skin then put it slin side down in a pan on medium to low heat. This allows you to render a lof of the fat out of the breast without burning the daylights out of the skin.
Once you have about 2-3mm of fat (personal preference) then turn up the heat, flip it over to sear it, [u]then[/u] whack it in the oven for a bit, much as you would a nice steak. Medium-rare is prob the best way to serve it. Finish off by shoving it under the grill to crisp up the skin.
Incidentally, the duck fat is good for roasting your spuds in and once you've drained that, you can then deglaze the pan to make your sauce.
So, slow pan fry on skin side only, low heat.
Turn up heat, sear other side, remove and rest.
Pour off fat to roast [insert root veg here]
Deglaze pan to make sauce
Throw breasts in oven, finish under grill whilst warming plates.
Slice, serve.
BTW - again as it can be fatty, a slightly sweet / tart sauce is ideal as it cuts through the fat. Hence why orange is common, as is cherry. You could try cranberry, raspberry or even gooseberry if you can find them. Or possibly sear some pink grapefruit segments to serve with it?
ETA : MChicane's Asian option would be good too, again note acid (vinegar) with duck..
Edited by Cactussed on Friday 19th February 17:44
Cactussed said:
If I can just pipe up here.
The thing about duck is that it is a fairly fatty bird, so I like to deal with that a little first. So, what I generally do is score the skin then put it slin side down in a pan on medium to low heat. This allows you to render a lof of the fat out of the breast without burning the daylights out of the skin.
Once you have about 2-3mm of fat (personal preference) then turn up the heat, flip it over to sear it, [u]then[/u] whack it in the oven for a bit, much as you would a nice steak. Medium-rare is prob the best way to serve it. Finish off by shoving it under the grill to crisp up the skin.
Incidentally, the duck fat is good for roasting your spuds in and once you've drained that, you can then deglaze the pan to make your sauce.
So, slow pan fry on skin side only, low heat.
Turn up heat, sear other side, remove and rest.
Pour off fat to roast [insert root veg here]
Deglaze pan to make sauce
Throw breasts in oven, finish under grill whilst warming plates.
Slice, serve.
BTW - again as it can be fatty, a slightly sweet / tart sauce is ideal as it cuts through the fat. Hence why orange is common, as is cherry. You could try cranberry, raspberry or even gooseberry if you can find them. Or possibly sear some pink grapefruit segments to serve with it?
ETA : MChicane's Asian option would be good too, again note acid (vinegar) with duck..
I'm doing exactly this as we speak - what a lot of fat comes out!The thing about duck is that it is a fairly fatty bird, so I like to deal with that a little first. So, what I generally do is score the skin then put it slin side down in a pan on medium to low heat. This allows you to render a lof of the fat out of the breast without burning the daylights out of the skin.
Once you have about 2-3mm of fat (personal preference) then turn up the heat, flip it over to sear it, [u]then[/u] whack it in the oven for a bit, much as you would a nice steak. Medium-rare is prob the best way to serve it. Finish off by shoving it under the grill to crisp up the skin.
Incidentally, the duck fat is good for roasting your spuds in and once you've drained that, you can then deglaze the pan to make your sauce.
So, slow pan fry on skin side only, low heat.
Turn up heat, sear other side, remove and rest.
Pour off fat to roast [insert root veg here]
Deglaze pan to make sauce
Throw breasts in oven, finish under grill whilst warming plates.
Slice, serve.
BTW - again as it can be fatty, a slightly sweet / tart sauce is ideal as it cuts through the fat. Hence why orange is common, as is cherry. You could try cranberry, raspberry or even gooseberry if you can find them. Or possibly sear some pink grapefruit segments to serve with it?
ETA : MChicane's Asian option would be good too, again note acid (vinegar) with duck..
Edited by Cactussed on Friday 19th February 17:44
Cheers, smells wonderful!
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