Cooking Duck Breasts: Tips and Techniques

[Mano]

I've made duck with blackberry sauce from epicurious about six times. It's outstanding. Read the personal reviews and tweak accordingly.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/1265

BTW, I cook ducks using one of those poultry stands so the fat drips out, the skin is crisp and the meat is moist.

[Swisskaese]

How about this:

Duck Breast with a Dried Cherry Zinfindel Sauce

This is how I would serve it. Yummy.

[sadistick]

One thing you want to be carefull when cooking duck breast is your marinade (if any, which I dont believe you need with good quality duck) if it has any sugars in it, chances are it will burn when combined with the high heat and fats.

As for sauce, I would recommend a port/sage sauce...or a port/black current sauce.

Add some shallots in to pan used for cooking, scrape up all tastey bits, deglaze with port, and add some nicely reduced stock. Add some sage at the end, or black current jam...Season and enjoy.

[merstar]

Here are two recipes to check out:

DUCK BREASTS WITH BLACKBERRY-CHOCOLATE SAUCE

http://www.pacificpalate.com/print_2004_2a.html

SEARED DUCK BREAST HALVES WITH BALSAMIC CHERRY REDUCTION

http://www.recipezaar.com/93324

[Busboy]

I wanted to get duck fat rendered with the idea of getting some confiting done and had a similar question. We ate the whole duck -- we'll get around to confiting eventually now that we have a quart of fat in the firdge -- but this is a dead simple and excellent recipe that works for any part you care to cook, and better for the breasts.

First, once you get all the edible bits off the carcass, roast the remains in a 250-300 degree oven until you've rendered all possible fat off the bones and given it a roasty flavor. Use the carcass to make a rich stock.

Sprinkle whatever you're cooking for dinner with some store-bought 5-spice powder (or make your own, if you're ambitious) and let it sit.

Skim the stock and cook it down to maybe a cup. Add a quarter bottle of red wine and a little honey and cracked pepper and cook it down to a syrope, tasting and adjusting as you go.

In frying pan, make a savory pear "sauce" -- heat some shallots in butter, throw chopped pear in and cook it until you have the texture you want, adding salt, sugar, cinnamon or whatever strikes your fancy.

Cook your breasts (saving that fat!) plate them on top the pear and drizzle liberally with the honey/red wine sauce.

The flavors have a naturally affinity for each other and the 5-spice powder -- which I dusted on on a whim -- really makes the dish.

[melkor]

I much prefer rendering duck fat by chopping the skin and fat and heating it over a low flame on the stove top with a little water to get it started. The fat ends up tasting cleaner. Duck stock made with roasted bones is the way to go - toss the feet into the stock unroasted if you've got them. Duck demi-glace made with the stock is fantastic. On a slightly different note, I guess I'm the only person who hates duck served with a sweet sauce.

[Busboy]

I much prefer rendering duck fat by chopping the skin and fat and heating it over a low flame on the stove top with a little water to get it started.  The fat ends up tasting cleaner.  Duck stock made with roasted bones is the way to go - toss the feet into the stock unroasted if you've got them.  Duck demi-glace made with the stock is fantastic.  On a slightly different note, I guess I'm the only person who hates duck served with a sweet sauce.

←

Maybe I think sweet with duck because it's the only meat I tend to get a chance to get sweet with. Though there's a thing Keller does with leeks and butter -- I'd have to look it up, but the butter isn't melted so much as emulsified around the leeks -- that goes spectacularly well with duck and maybe a little of that duck demi-glace.

I will try the alternative rendering technique next time I get my hands on a couple. They last pair didn't come with feet, but since I buy them in a vast Asian market, I'll bet the feet are available somewhere.

[vivelafrance]

Here are two recipes to check out:

DUCK BREASTS WITH BLACKBERRY-CHOCOLATE SAUCE

http://www.pacificpalate.com/print_2004_2a.html

SEARED DUCK BREAST HALVES WITH BALSAMIC CHERRY REDUCTION

http://www.recipezaar.com/93324

←

Thanks a lot. I think we are going to go with the balsamic cherry reduction. Sounds great! I'll let you know how it turned out.

[merstar]

Here are two recipes to check out:

DUCK BREASTS WITH BLACKBERRY-CHOCOLATE SAUCE

http://www.pacificpalate.com/print_2004_2a.html

SEARED DUCK BREAST HALVES WITH BALSAMIC CHERRY REDUCTION

http://www.recipezaar.com/93324

←

Thanks a lot. I think we are going to go with the balsamic cherry reduction. Sounds great! I'll let you know how it turned out.

←

You're quite welcome. I've been eyeing this one myself, so definitely let me know how it turns out!

[Pat Churchill]

And save any duck fat for roasting potatoes!

[vivelafrance]

And save any duck fat for roasting potatoes!

←

Sorry it took me a while to get back to you guys...The duck breasts were delicious and the marinate was nice. We thought the result was missing a bit of ompf if you see what I mean. So next time, we are thinking about using port instead of white wine. It would give a bit more body and a bit more dimension. Overall good recipe though. Thanks for the tip.

We ended up making confit with the rest of the duck and are planning on making cassoulet in a couple of months with it. Can't wait!

[markk]

I find duck breast meat to be so delicious when cooked rare that I no longer sauce it - I just drizzle it with some of the 'jus' that collects as I leave it to rest after I pan sear it, and the very most I do is serve it with a little salt, sometimes truffle salt. I make it about once a week or so.

I do try to serve interesting things with it that complement the flavors - here it is served (plus the leg confit) with a salad dressed with walnut oil, aged sherry vinegar, and a little apricot:

And here I've served it with Truffled Mushrooms, Champagne Mangoes with aged-sherry vinaigrette and Maraschino Liqueur, and Crispy Duck Leg Confit with Thyme-Scented French Lentils, Purée of Yam and Turnip:

(I hope none of the people from the "my food is touching" thread are over here!

I used to put a lot of effort into a sauce for it, and found that (to our tastes anyway) that we prefer the breast meat rare, crispy, and plain. BTW, I always make a Moulard duck breast, but I've had almost as good luck with the Muscovy. Do you know the breed of your duck?

[merstar]

Sorry it took me a while to get back to you guys...The duck breasts were delicious and the marinate was nice.  We thought the result was missing a bit of ompf if you see what I mean.  So next time, we are thinking about using port instead of white wine.  It would give a bit more body and a bit more dimension.  Overall good recipe though.  Thanks for the tip.

We ended up making confit with the rest of the duck and are planning on making cassoulet in a couple of months with it.  Can't wait!

←

Glad it turned out well! Like the port idea.

[cacao]

Hi all:

My sweetie's birthday is coming up soon and since he enjoys duck quite a bit, I'd like to prepare a duck dish for his birthday. I've in mind to cook a deboned duck breast, as I can get really high quality Muscovy duck breasts where I live, and, as the day of honor is a weekday, I need something a bit simpler than a whole duck to cook.

I'm looking for suggestions/ideas, and wondering if some of you might have some memorable duck breast dishes you've either made or had in a restaurant that you would reccommend. Cuisine of origin is totally open; but a red wine friendly dish would be preferable; as we both enjoy red wine, too; weekday be damned

Anyone?

Thanks,

Cacao

[-sheila mooney]

i use a Claudia Roden recipe from her Italy book -- maybe too simple for a big day. slowly cook scored fat side til brown, turn over, add balsamic, s and p, and either fresh or great-quality frozen wild blueberries or cranberries and a pinch of cinnamon - cover and cook til done to your liking. good with a pilaf of long-grain and wild rice. pm me if you need details.

[Chris Amirault]

Duck ham a la Michael Ruhlman in Charcuterie.

[markk]

If you can get nice Muscovy duck breasts (as opposed to the Pekin/Long Island duck breasts that abound), I think the best thing to do is pan-sear them to perfection and enjoy the delicious meat with just a touch of salt. I find that a lot of preparations (and sauces) really just mask the utterly delicious flavor of the duck. I'd score it and cook it skin side down in a really hot pan for a few minutes, flip it and cook the underside for a few more, and let it rest in a warm pan in a warm place, and when you slice it, pour the drippings over it, and give it a teeny bit of salt.

It's shown here with duck leg confit, and a salad that's got a hint of sweetness in the vinaigrette. I make duck breasts a lot, and I think that various sides set the crispy, rare meat off just fine. You can see a lot of the varieties I make on my duck dinners page.

[paul o' vendange]

Hi all:

My sweetie's birthday is coming up soon and since he enjoys duck quite a bit, I'd like to prepare a duck dish for his birthday. I've in mind to cook a deboned duck breast, as I can get really high quality Muscovy duck breasts where I live, and, as the day of honor is a weekday, I need something a bit simpler than a whole duck to cook.

I'm looking for suggestions/ideas, and wondering if some of you might have some memorable duck breast dishes you've either made or had in a restaurant that you would reccommend. Cuisine of origin is totally open; but a red wine friendly dish would be preferable; as we both enjoy red wine, too; weekday be damned

Anyone?

Thanks,

Cacao

Your dinner sounds wonderful.

Because Muscovy does not have the fat cap that moulard does, I treat it fairly gingerly. With either breed, though, I score the skin in cross-hatch pattern, being careful not to pierce all the way to the breast meat. I cook it slowly, skin side down, so as to ensure fat renders off without too deeply caramelizing the skin. I pour the fat off as it accumulates (one of the rare times I sadly lose rendered fat - the salt and pepper, I don't use). For moulard, I may take up to 12-15 minutes to accomplish this skin-side rendering, muscovy, less. I shoot to render most of the fat off about the time the skin caramelizes. I then "kiss" the flesh side, and toss it in an oven to finish pan roasting. I pull either breed at rare to medium rare (depending on my guests' likes), tent the magret, and allow it to finish coming to temp under foil.

Serving suggestions...in general, nothing beats the taste of an immaculate, deeply cared for duck stock reduction as a mother (or only) sauce for duck breast, in my opinion. The roast, sweet flavors marry perfectly with the breast such that nothing else is really needed, save for a crystal or two of fleur de sel at serving.

More specifically: in these winter months, I tend to go with braised cabbages, squashes, root vegetables, especially sweet potatoes; and if you can marry the breasts with leg confit, all the better, for a textural and flavor contrast. I often enjoy playing with at least a light bit of smoking, esp. in the cold months - I often grill leg confit over a moistwood fire, but think a nice tea smoke, with asian flavors, would be also nice.

Some favorites include:

Magret Prosciutto - spice and salt cured, air dried for 2 weeks

Morels (or any great, flavored mushroom) and confit (a dish I always enjoy making - some play of risotto with mushrooms and leg confit, with pan-roasted breasts as the centerpiece and a squash - I used delicata more than anything else - as another component)

sage and sour cherry sauce, corn crepes, rainbow chard

Dried black mission figs are wonderful too. I would often just do a sauce made from duck stock, dried figs, a touch of port, and some black pepper.

In many duck dishes, I use good balsamic as a component - adding sour, but under reduction, adding some caramelized sugar into the mix. Such is the case with the sage/sour cherry sauce above, and I add this to the braising liquid when doing legs.

I don't want to take up too much bandwidth - if interested, please pm for recipes, etc. I love duck.

Oh - nearly forgot. Madeleine Kamman offers a really nice recipe from her "Making of a Cook" tome. In my edition, p. 736, "Grilled Canton Duck Cutlets with Orange Bourbon Sauce." I haven't made the dish in many years, but have a very fond memory.

Edited January 17, 2007 by paul o' vendange (log)

[phatj]

For Christmas dinner I made a meal revolving around duck.

Pate de foie gras on toast for snacking during cooking

Egg drop soup made with duck stock, with bits of duck meat added

Pot stickers containing duck leg confit and shiitake mushrooms, served with a dipping sauce of soy, rice vinegar and superreduced duck stock

Seared duck breast over mixed greens with crumbled feta cheese and orange-balsamic vinaigrette, served with potatoes roasted in duck fat.

The pot stickers were phenomenal, as was the breast meat.

[Dave Hatfield]

In response to Cacao hereare a few suggestion from an earlier post.

The Aillaide recipe can be found in Paula Wolfert's "Cooking of SouthWest France."

My favourite for a special occasion is with the foie gras. A bit expensive, but you're both worth it.

[Michaeltheonion]

I had a really wonderful duck breast a few years ago at New years. There was no marrinade, because I think that distracts from all the naturalsweetness of the duck. If you have any foie gras scraps ( a rare occasion.) Make a quick forcemeat, or just puree it. The forcemeat should ave some shallot and some piscacios in there for good measure. Make a slit through the centre of the breast. Make sure the acual hole isnt too large of the foie will leak out durring cooking. Pipe in the mixture. Render the skin SLOWLY, then finish it briefly in the oven until it is still nice and rare. There you have it, duck stuffed duck. I would eat this once a month if it were possible.

[cacao]

Love the merged topic! Most helpful. Ah, so many ideas, so little duck!

Love the duck pot sticker idea. Not a good match for this meal, (too time consuming)

but I have got to try that sometime (I like mushrooms, so the shiitake pairing is interesting!)

I'm still figuring it all out, I think I will making be a simple pan roasted oven finished

duck breast with a port and wild mushroom sauce. The cooking tips are most helpful,

since I am more familiar with roasting a whole duck.

I've got a few of Paula's books, but not the _Cooking of SW France_. I'll peek at that in the

bookstore and look up 'duck' in the index I tend to have great success with, and enjoyment from, her recipes.

I'll let you know how the B-Day meal turns out!

Cacao

[Michaeltheonion]

The cooking tips are most helpful,

since I am more familiar with roasting a whole duck.

Ive been curious about this one. Arent the legs of a duck generally way too tough to roast on their own, hense Confit and a 'lorange? Also roasting would destroy the ideal state of the breast, medium rare. thats why when I buy duck ( as I did this evening) I always fabricate it down to those two basic components. How exactly do you roast a duck to perfection? Any suggestions?

[Dave Hatfield]

The cooking tips are most helpful,

since I am more familiar with roasting a whole duck. 

Ive been curious about this one. Arent the legs of a duck generally way too tough to roast on their own, hense Confit and a 'lorange? Also roasting would destroy the ideal state of the breast, medium rare. thats why when I buy duck ( as I did this evening) I always fabricate it down to those two basic components. How exactly do you roast a duck to perfection? Any suggestions?

←

Deconstruct the duck. Same as for doing a turkey as described here

This allows each piece to be cooked correctly.

Otherwise I've never really had a duck roasted whole that really worked for all parts.

[tim]

I agree about the deconstructed duck. This allows for rare breast, leg/thigh confit, stock, cracklins, soup and pate. Jacques Pepin also has a good set of instructions.

A whole duck may be properly cooked by steaming for about an hour to begin the rendering process. Refrigerate for a day and finish in an oven. It is less messy this way and does promote fat flow.

Tim