Indulge in a culinary masterpiece with our divine boneless duck breast recipe, a symphony of flavors that will tantalize your taste buds. This dish combines the richness of duck with the fruity sweetness of port wine, creating a harmonious balance that is sure to impress.
Accompanying this main course are two delectable recipes: a classic port wine sauce that enhances the duck's natural flavors, and a refreshing orange salad that provides a vibrant contrast. These recipes come together to form a complete and unforgettable dining experience that will leave you craving for more.
PAN-SEARED WILD DUCK BREAST WITH PORT WINE REDUCTION
Adapted by Sally Schneider's A New Way to Cook Notes: I cannot give you a foolproof way of cooking your duck breasts. I've described what we do below to yield a perfectly medium-rare duck breast from our kitchen, but every piece of meat is different, every oven is different, every pan is different, etc. There are so many factors and truthfully, we ruined several duck breasts before we figured out just how to get it right. The rub and the sauce recipes below, however, are simple and foolproof.
Provided by Alexandra Stafford
Categories Duck
Time 4h5m
Yield 2
Number Of Ingredients 7
Steps:
- Schneider's recipe calls for a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder because she started with whole peppercorns and allspice berries. I simply stir my salt, freshly ground pepper, sugar, zest and thyme in a small bowl. It works just fine. The mixture should look like sand.
- Place the duck breasts on a platter and rub the spice mixture into them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. About 20 minutes before cooking, remove the duck breasts from the refrigerator and return to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Pat dry with paper towels. With a paring knife, remove the tenderloin, the thin strip of meat that runs lengthwise down the underside of each breast.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat. When the pan is hot - it doesn't have to be smoking - put the duck breasts in fat side down. Let the breasts sizzle for about a minute (or longer if your kitchen isn't getting too smoky) or a minute and a half, then place the pan in the oven. After two and half minutes total have passed, open the oven, flip the breasts over, close the oven and cook for another two to two and a half minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, transfer the breasts to a platter, and let rest for five minutes. Turn your oven off.
- While the breasts are resting, finish reducing the sauce. (See my notes below with the sauce recipe - I make the sauce a day in advance, and then heat as much as I think we need for the two of us while the breasts are resting.) Place your sauce in a small sauce pan or frying pan and heat over medium-high heat. In no time, the sauce should start to thicken up, at which point you should remove the pan from the stovetop. Slice the breasts, if desired, and pour your beautiful sauce over top. (Or, don't slice the breasts, just pour the sauce over top.)
DUCK BREASTS WITH CITRUS PORT CHERRY SAUCE
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Score the skin of the duck breast with a knife in 2 directions, crossing over each other (makes a crosshatch). Season both sides of each duck breast with salt and pepper.
- In a large nonstick skillet, over medium-high heat, place the duck breasts skin side down. Sear the breasts until the skin is golden brown about 10 minutes, flip and sear the other side for just 3 minutes. Place the seared duck breasts in a baking dish skin side up, and put them in oven. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove the duck breasts from the oven and allow them to rest for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, pour off most excess fat from skillet, and place it back on the stovetop over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute until translucent. Pour in the port wine and orange juice, and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the orange zest and chopped cherries and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes to reduce the mixture and thicken, mashing the cherries with the back of a wooden spoon to extract flavor as they cook.
- Slice the breasts into 1/4-inch slices on a diagonal. Pour the cherry port sauce over the top and enjoy!
- Cook's Note: excess duck fat can be refrigerated and is great for cooking potatoes or eggs.
BREAST OF DUCK WITH PORT SAUCE
Steps:
- Make the marinade:
- In a bowl whisk together the wine, the vinegar, the soy sauce, the lemon juice, the garlic, the gingerroot, the oil and salt and pepper to taste.
- Put the duck breasts in a large resealable plastic bag, pour the marinade over them, and seal the bag. Put the plastic bag in a large bowl and let the duck marinate, chilled, overnight. Remove the duck from the marinade and pat it dry between layers of paper towels. Score the skin of each duck breast in a crosshatch pattern with a sharp knife and sprinkle both sides of the duck with salt and pepper to taste. Heat 2 heavy skillets over moderately high heat until they are hot and in each skillet cook 1 of the duck breasts, skin side down, for 10 minutes. Turn the duck and cook it for 2 minutes more, transfer the skillets to the middle of a preheated 450°F. oven (wrap the skillet handles with a double thickness of foil if the handles are not ovenproof), and roast the duck for 5 to 7 minutes, or until a meat thermometer registers 145°F. to 150°F. for medium meat.
- While the duck is roasting, in a small heavy saucepan combine the sugar and the water, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, and boil it, swirling the pan, until the mixture is a golden caramel. Add the vinegars carefully, swirling the pan until the caramel is dissolved, and reserve the mixture.
- Transfer the duck to a cutting board and let it stand, covered loosely with foil, for 5 minutes. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from 1 of the skillets and in the fat remaining in the skillet cook the shallot and the garlic over moderately low heat, stirring, until the shallot is softened. Add the dry red wine and boil the mixture until it is reduced by half. Add the broth, boil the mixture until it is reduced by one third, and pour the mixture through a fine sieve set over the reserved vinegar mixture, pressing hard on the solids. Whisk in the cream and the Port, simmer the mixture for 1 minute, and add the beurre manié, a little at a time, whisking until the sauce is smooth. Simmer the sauce, whisking occasionally, for 2 minutes, whisk into the sauce any juices that have accumulated on the cutting board, and season the sauce with salt and pepper.
- Cut the duck diagonally across the grain into thin slices, divide the duck slices among 8 plates, and spoon the sauce over the duck. Serve the duck with the dried cherry and shallot confit.
SEARED FIVE-SPICE DUCK BREAST WITH PLUM WINE SAUCE
Steps:
- Marinate the duck breast with 5 spice powder, ginger root, scallions, salt, pepper and sesame oil for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Heat skillet on moderately high heat, do not add any oil. Sear duck breast skin side down, brown both sides. Transfer duck to oven proof plate and cook the duck in the oven for 10 minutes for medium rare. Pour off grease form the skillet, add plum wine, add duck stock season with salt and pepper and reduce the sauce to 1 cup. Then incorporate the butter to the sauce and set aside and keep warm. Remove duck from oven let it set for 5 minutes before slicing.
ROAST DUCK BREAST WITH DRIED CHERRIES AND PORT
Steps:
- Wrap each duck breast in plastic wrap and pound them with a meat mallet until each breast is about 1 inch thick. Place the duck on a plate, sprinkle both sides with a total of 4 teaspoons salt, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- When ready to cook the duck, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Score the skin of the duck breasts with a sharp knife, making a crosshatch pattern but not cutting down to the meat.
- In a large (12-inch) heavy-bottomed, ovenproof skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Place the duck breasts in the pan, skin side down. Cook uncovered over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes, discarding the fat from the pan occasionally, until the skin is very browned. Turn the duck with tongs, place the skillet in the oven, and roast for 12 to 18 minutes, until the internal temperature of the duck is 120 degrees F for rare. Remove from the oven, cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil, and allow the duck to rest for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the sauce. Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the shallots and saute for 2 minutes, until tender. Add the vinegar and cook for one minute. Add the Port, chicken stock, cherries, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the crème fraîche, orange zest, and orange juice and keep warm over low heat.
- Transfer the duck to a cutting board and slice diagonally, fanning the slices out on 4 dinner plates. Spoon the sauce generously on top, sprinkle with salt, and serve hot with extra sauce on the side.
DUCK BREASTS WITH PORT REDUCTION SAUCE
Provided by Martha Stewart
Categories Food & Cooking Ingredients Meat & Poultry
Number Of Ingredients 9
Steps:
- Using a sharp knife, trim away excess skin from the duck (leaving enough to amply cover the breast). Using a sharp knife, score the skin, first cutting diagonally in one direction, and then the other, in a crosshatch manner. Cut all the way through the skin and most of the fat, but avoid the flesh. Alternatively, you can use a Jaccard tool to pierce the skin. On a small rimmed baking sheet or a plate, place a 1/4 inch layer of salt rough the size of the duck breast. Place duck breast skin-side down on bed of salt. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Remove and brush off salt with a stiff brush. Line a small rimmed baking sheet or shallow dish with ice cubes and cover with plastic wrap. Place duck breast skin-side down on plastic wrap and weight it with a cheesecloth bundle filled with pie weights or dried beans for 25 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove cheesecloth bundle and season flesh side with pepper, and place skin side down, in an unheated 10-inch skillet. Top again with cheesecloth bundle and cook over medium-low heat until a small pool of fat forms in the pan. As fat accumulates, spoon off into a heatproof bowl and reserve for another use; allowing it to cool before storing in an airtight container at room temperature. Continue to cook duck until the skin is nicely browned and crisp, about 25 minutes. Use tongs to turn breast over and top with cheesecloth bundle for 1 minute. Remove bundle and transfer skillet to oven and cook until duck is medium rare, 8 to 12 minutes. It should register 125 degrees on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part. Transfer to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet to rest for 5 to 7 minutes. The duck will continue to cook slightly during this time.
- Drain all of fat from the pan and place over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until soft, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium high and add the port, chicken stock, and thyme, scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Bring to a simmer and cook until sauce is syrupy and reduced to 1/3 cup. Remove from heat and whisk in butter until fully incorporated. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
- Slice duck crosswise on a slight angle into 1/4-inch-thick slices, fan out on serving plates, and drizzle with sauce before serving.
PEPPERED DUCK BREAST WITH RED WINE SAUCE
Back in 2011, this version of steak au poivre made with duck breasts was introduced as part of a New Year's menu. Fancy enough for a gathering, but relaxed enough that it doesn't feel like too much, you can make it any time you want something a little more special than your average fare.
Provided by David Tanis
Categories dinner, main course
Time 1h30m
Yield 6 servings
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- Remove the tenderloins (the thin strips of meat on undersides of the duck breast) and reserve for the sauce. With a sharp knife, trim away any gristle from the undersides of the breasts and trim any excess fat. Score the skin in a diamond pattern, cutting through the fat but not quite reaching the meat. Lightly sprinkle salt on both sides, then rub 1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns all over. Sprinkle with the garlic and a few thyme sprigs, cover, and leave at room temperature for 1 hour. (For deeper flavor, refrigerate the breasts for several hours or overnight, then return to room temperature before cooking.)
- Heat 1 tablespoon unsalted butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot and the reserved duck tenderloins; let them brown well, stirring occasionally, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and a small thyme sprig and let them fry for 1 minute.
- Add the broth and 1/4 cup wine, raise the heat to a brisk simmer and let the liquid reduce to about 1 1/4 cups, about 10 minutes. Strain the sauce and return to the heat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons red wine and the Cognac or brandy and cook for 1 minute more. Dissolve potato starch in 2 tablespoons cold water, then stir the mixture into the sauce. Whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Season to taste with salt. (Sauce may be made in advance and reheated, thinned with a little broth.)
- Remove and discard the garlic and thyme sprigs from the breasts. Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high. When the pan is hot, lay in the duck breasts, skin-side down, and let them sizzle. Lower the heat to medium and cook for a total of 7 minutes, checking to make sure the skin isn't browning too quickly. With tongs, turn the breasts over and let them cook another 3 minutes for rare, 4 to 5 minutes for medium-rare. Transfer to a warm platter and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice crosswise, not too thickly, at a slight angle and serve with the sauce.
Nutrition Facts : @context http, Calories 239, UnsaturatedFat 4 grams, Carbohydrate 7 grams, Fat 10 grams, Fiber 1 gram, Protein 27 grams, SaturatedFat 4 grams, Sodium 817 milligrams, Sugar 2 grams, TransFat 0 grams
SEARED DUCK BREAST WITH PLUMS AND PORT
This recipe is from "Bistro Cooking at Home" by Gordon Hamersley. It is an excellent way to prepare duck, and it is not very difficult. An excellent main course for a holiday meal or for a dinner party. This pairs very nicely with a Zinfandel, a Syrah or a Shiraz.
Provided by xtine
Categories Duck Breasts
Time 1h
Yield 4 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 13
Steps:
- In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, 1/4 cup of the port, the shallot, ginger, red pepper flakes, cumin and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Trim away the silverskin from the meat side of the duck breasts and trim away any excess skin and fat along the edges. Score the skin by making diagonal cuts just through the skin at 1/8-inch intervals. Put the duck breasts, skin side up, on a large rimmed plate and pour the marinade over them. Marinate, turning the breasts over once or twice during the process, for 1 hour at room temperature.
- To cook the plums and make the sauce:.
- Heat the butter in a small sauté pan over medium-high heat until hot. Season the plums with salt and pepper and cook, tossing them occasionally, until they are browned, about 5 minutes. Using a flexible spatula, transfer the plums and most of the butter to a plate. To the pan the plums were cooked in, add the remaining 1 cup of port and the chicken stock. Remove the duck breasts from the marinade and pour the marinade into the pan as well. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until reduced by almost half. Add the browned plums to the sauce and continue to cook over lowest heat until the plums are tender (the time it takes for all this to happen is about the same time as it takes for the duck to cook).
- To cook the duck:.
- Pat the duck breasts dry with paper towels. Heat enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the duck, skin side down. As the meat cooks, fat will render. Pour this fat off, using a large spatula or plate to hold the breasts in place. Keep pouring off the fat as the duck cooks, adjusting the heat if the skin begins to burn (use your nose to detect any burning, as the sugar in the port as well as the soy sauce will blacken the skin). While the duck cooks, check on the sauce; if it seems to be reducing too much, remove from the heat.
- Turn the duck over when almost all of the fat in the skin has melted away and the skin is dark and crispy, about 12 minutes. Cook an additional 2 minutes on the flesh side. Take the pan off the heat and let the duck rest in the pan off the heat for at least 5 minutes before slicing it. At this point you can heat up the plum sauce over low heat, if you had to take it off the heat earlier because it was in danger of becoming too reduced.
- To serve:.
- Remove the duck breasts to a cutting board, skin side up. Pour any juices (but not the fat) from the sauté pan into the pan with the plums. Slice the breasts across the grain into thin pieces, about 6 slices per breast. Place the duck slices neatly on each plate. Spoon some sauce and plums onto each plate.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 298.2, Fat 8.2, SaturatedFat 3.2, Cholesterol 71.5, Sodium 838.3, Carbohydrate 16.4, Fiber 0.8, Sugar 9.5, Protein 19.9
Tips:
- Choose high-quality duck breasts: Look for duck breasts that are plump and have a deep red color. Avoid duck breasts that are pale or have any signs of bruising or discoloration.
- Score the duck breasts: Scoring the duck breasts helps the fat render more easily and allows the marinade to penetrate the meat. To score the duck breasts, use a sharp knife to make shallow cuts across the skin, about 1/4 inch apart.
- Marinate the duck breasts: Marinating the duck breasts in a mixture of port wine, orange juice, garlic, thyme, and rosemary helps to tenderize the meat and add flavor. Marinate the duck breasts for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight.
- Cook the duck breasts over medium heat: Cooking the duck breasts over medium heat helps to render the fat slowly and evenly. Cook the duck breasts for about 5-7 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 135 degrees Fahrenheit for medium-rare.
- Let the duck breasts rest before slicing: Letting the duck breasts rest before slicing allows the juices to redistribute throughout the meat, resulting in a more tender and flavorful dish. Let the duck breasts rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.
Conclusion:
This divine boneless duck breast with port wine sauce is a delicious and elegant dish that is perfect for a special occasion. The duck breasts are cooked to perfection and the port wine sauce is rich and flavorful. Serve the duck breasts with your favorite sides, such as roasted potatoes, grilled vegetables, or a simple salad.
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