Duck breast is always a treat and what better time to serve it to your guests than during the holidays. It's made more special with this dark cherry port reduction. I'm serving it here with wild rice and green beans, for a festive holiday plate.
Today I'm using the Moulard Magret duck breast breed, which is the most popular duck in France. But the breasts can be rather large as noted above. Muscovy duck breast (AKA Barbary duck) is a favorite among chefs for its deep red flesh, leaner, thin skin and mildly gamey flavor. It also is more consistent in the ideal size, about 8 ounces per breast half. Pekin duck (AKA Long Island duck) is the most popular in the US with a dark pink flesh, soft, fatty skin and mild, sweet flavor. It too comes in more manageable 8-10 ounce sizes. Sometimes you see Rohan duck, which is a hybrid heritage duck breed. If you have your choice, go with the Muscovy duck as it the most flavorful, has less fat and is more ideally sized than the Moulard Magret.
Duck breasts can be hard to find at your local grocer or butcher, but they are readily available from multiple sources online. I used to purchase them from Whole Foods, but they since stopped carrying them. When I asked the butcher he said the whole duck cost as much as the breasts and suggested I simply by several ducks (frozen) and cut off the breasts and use the remainder of the duck (legs and thighs) for confit. Not wanting to go to the trouble, I purchased online.
4 duck breast halves (about 6-8 ounces each)
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/3 cup tawny Port
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup black cherry juice
8 sweet red cherries, pitted and halved (optional)
1 tablespoons chilled butter, divided
Instructions
Place duck breast halves between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Pound lightly to even the thickness. Remove from plastic and using sharp knife, score skin in 3/4-inch diamond pattern (do not cut into flesh). Sprinkle the flesh (not fat) side with salt and pepper.
Coat the bottom of heavy large skillet with the oil and place over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Add duck, skin side down, to skillet and cook until skin is browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. If you have a splatter shield to catch some of the fat from spraying, use it.
Turn duck breasts over, reduce heat to medium, and cook until browned and cooked to desired doneness, about 4 minutes for 130F degrees, which will be medium-rare. For larger breasts it will take a few minutes more. Use an instant read thermometer to test for doneness. Transfer to work surface, tent with foil to keep warm and let rest. Duck temperature will continue to rise to about 135F degrees.
Meanwhile, pour the rendered fat into a heat resistant glass or ceramic container. With a paper towel and tongs, wipe out the skillet to remove any burned debris but do not wash. Return 2 tablespoons of the fat to the skillet and place it over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the shallot and stir for 30 seconds more to soften. Add the port and stir for 1-2 minutes until it is slightly reduced. Add the broth, cherry juice and cherries and cook stirring regularly until the sauce is reduced to a a glaze, about 5-7 minutes. Whisk in the butter and season as necessary with salt and pepper.
Thinly slice duck. Fan slices out on plates. Spoon sauce over and serve.
I give you my classic recipe below, although you can do variations on the theme. Here I've cut it more thickly than usual and not done the typical fan presentation on the plate. I also did not score the skin/fat in advance. I ordered duck breasts online and the one was much larger than anticipated. I normally anticipate one duck breast per person of about 5-8 ounces, which several of them were. But there was this one very large breast half in the batch so I'm serving larger pieces than normal. These three breasts fed five for dinner with the ends kept for a left over snack tomorrow.
Today I'm using the Moulard Magret duck breast breed, which is the most popular duck in France. But the breasts can be rather large as noted above. Muscovy duck breast (AKA Barbary duck) is a favorite among chefs for its deep red flesh, leaner, thin skin and mildly gamey flavor. It also is more consistent in the ideal size, about 8 ounces per breast half. Pekin duck (AKA Long Island duck) is the most popular in the US with a dark pink flesh, soft, fatty skin and mild, sweet flavor. It too comes in more manageable 8-10 ounce sizes. Sometimes you see Rohan duck, which is a hybrid heritage duck breed. If you have your choice, go with the Muscovy duck as it the most flavorful, has less fat and is more ideally sized than the Moulard Magret.
Duck breasts can be hard to find at your local grocer or butcher, but they are readily available from multiple sources online. I used to purchase them from Whole Foods, but they since stopped carrying them. When I asked the butcher he said the whole duck cost as much as the breasts and suggested I simply by several ducks (frozen) and cut off the breasts and use the remainder of the duck (legs and thighs) for confit. Not wanting to go to the trouble, I purchased online.
Julian's Duck Breast with Dark Cherry Port Reduction
Ingredients4 duck breast halves (about 6-8 ounces each)
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/3 cup tawny Port
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup black cherry juice
8 sweet red cherries, pitted and halved (optional)
1 tablespoons chilled butter, divided
Instructions
Place duck breast halves between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Pound lightly to even the thickness. Remove from plastic and using sharp knife, score skin in 3/4-inch diamond pattern (do not cut into flesh). Sprinkle the flesh (not fat) side with salt and pepper.
Coat the bottom of heavy large skillet with the oil and place over high heat until it just begins to smoke. Add duck, skin side down, to skillet and cook until skin is browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. If you have a splatter shield to catch some of the fat from spraying, use it.
Turn duck breasts over, reduce heat to medium, and cook until browned and cooked to desired doneness, about 4 minutes for 130F degrees, which will be medium-rare. For larger breasts it will take a few minutes more. Use an instant read thermometer to test for doneness. Transfer to work surface, tent with foil to keep warm and let rest. Duck temperature will continue to rise to about 135F degrees.
Meanwhile, pour the rendered fat into a heat resistant glass or ceramic container. With a paper towel and tongs, wipe out the skillet to remove any burned debris but do not wash. Return 2 tablespoons of the fat to the skillet and place it over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the shallot and stir for 30 seconds more to soften. Add the port and stir for 1-2 minutes until it is slightly reduced. Add the broth, cherry juice and cherries and cook stirring regularly until the sauce is reduced to a a glaze, about 5-7 minutes. Whisk in the butter and season as necessary with salt and pepper.
Thinly slice duck. Fan slices out on plates. Spoon sauce over and serve.
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