Seared Duck Breast With Plums And Port Recipes

PAN-SEARED WILD DUCK BREAST WITH PORT WINE REDUCTION

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.)

SEARED DUCK BREAST WITH PLUMS AND PORT

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.

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.