Can anyone suggest a non-sweet, non-fruity sauce for pan-roasted duck breast?

[robie]

It is just my wife and me for Christmas (thanks Covid).  I'm doing pan-roasted duck breasts (thanks D'Artagnan).  My wife does not like the usual sweet (port-based), fruity (cherry, berry, orange) sauces used in Western cuisine.  The rest of the menu is western so I'm not looking for anything asian.  Any suggestions for a good sauce under that constraint?

 

Thank you!

[Duvel]

How about a riff on (or of ?!) Sauce Foyot, so a basically a Sauce Bearnaise in which you incorporate the reduced pan juices of the roasted duck ... should work pretty well for a rare/medium rare duck breast.

[KennethT]

I like mushrooms with duck - so a wild mushroom sauce?

[KennethT]

10 minutes ago, Duvel said:

How about a riff on (or of ?!) Sauce Foyot, so a basically a Sauce Bearnaise in which you incorporate the reduced pan juices of the roasted duck ... should work pretty well for a rare/medium rare duck breast.

Don't get saucy with me, Bernaise!!!!!  Sorry... someone had to say it....

[heidih]

First that came to mind was a green peppercorn sauce like this  https://www.thefrenchcookingacademy.com/duck-breast-green-peppercorn-sauce/

[curls]

I searched Eat Your Books and came up with this one from Julia Child's "The Way to Cook"

 

[MokaPot]

What about a sauce that has a vinegar element? I think of duck as something rich & fatty (in a good way), so maybe vinegar would complement that. When I Googled, lots of hits for a sherry vinegar duck sauce.

[KennethT]

1 minute ago, MokaPot said:

What about a sauce that has a vinegar element? I think of duck as something rich & fatty (in a good way), so maybe vinegar would complement that. When I Googled, lots of hits for a sherry vinegar duck sauce.

Yeah - amybe like a gastrique - the slightly sweet and sour. I've made a brown duck sauce, added some raspberries, and some raspberry vinegar. Was very good, but the OP wanted to stay away from fruit.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I have successfully used this Green Olive sauce

for pan roasted duck breast.    A clasic and NOT SWEET.

[FeChef]

10 hours ago, KennethT said:

I like mushrooms with duck - so a wild mushroom sauce?

Maybe a a dry Marsala reduction with some balsamic and mushrroms.?

[FeChef]

If your wife doesnt like a sweet sauce, you might want to consider a cream sauce. 

[cdh]

Demiglace? That fits the bill.  If you don't have duck stock to cook down, I'd imagine the veal variety you can get from stores would play nicely... maybe go in an au poivre direction with a few twists of pepper and a splash of brandy in it?

Edited December 13, 2020 by cdh (log)

[robie]

Many thanks for all of the ideas.  I went with a red-wine sauce recipe I found on the NYT website.  It was delicious.