Seared Duck Breast Halves With Balsamic Cherry Reduction Recipes

Steps:

• With a sharp knife, score the fat of the duck breast in a crisscross pattern, being careful to not cut into the meat. Season the duck with salt and pepper. Warm a cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan over medium-low heat and add enough oil to just coat the bottom of the pan.
• Place the duck breast fat-side down in the skillet to render off the fat, about 8 minutes. Once the fat has rendered out and the skin is golden brown and crisp, turn the duck breast over and add the butter, thyme and garlic. Turn up the heat to medium-high and, once the butter is foamy, begin basting the duck breast using a spoon. Continue basting until the duck breast reaches medium rare and measures 135 to 140 degrees F. on an instant-read thermometer, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the pan and let rest for 3 to 4 minutes before slicing.

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.

Steps:

• To prepare marinade, whisk balsamic vinegar through pepper together until combined.
• Marinate duck breast halves in a covered dish in the refrigerator for 2-10 hours, turning occasionally.
• Remove duck from marinade; reserve marinade.
• Wipe and pat duck breast halves dry with paper towels, rub on all sides with one teaspoon of olive oil, and sprinkle with salt.
• Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a heavy skillet on medium-high until the oil starts to smoke.
• Add the duck breast halves and cook 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
• Remove to platter and keep warm.
• Turn heat to high; add wine to skillet and bring to a boil, scraping the bottom to release browned bits.
• Add reserved marinade and cherries and cook, stirring frequently, several minutes or until sauce has reduced by about half.
• Taste and adjust for seasoning if needed.
• Pour reduction (sauce) over duck and serve at once.

Steps:

• For the glaze, combine the balsamic vinegar, honey, cherries and cayenne pepper in a small saucepan.
• Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the mixture has reduced by half to form a thick, syrupy glaze; keep warm until ready to serve.
• With the point of a knife, score the skin side of the duck breasts in a crosshatch pattern, being careful not to pierce the flesh.
• Season the duck breasts with the salt and pepper.
• Preheat a dry (oil-less) saute pan over medium/high heat before adding the breasts, skin-side down.
• Cook the duck over medium/high heat approximately 6 to 8 minutes (rendering out the fat).
• Momentarily remove the duck from the pan and set the duck aside.
• Fry the sage leaves in the rendered duck fat for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the leaves are crisp and dark green.
• Transfer the sage to paper towels to drain.
• Remove the excess fat from the saute pan, then add the duck (opposite side) back into the hot pan.
• Saute the opposite side of the breasts for another 3 to 4 minutes (the meat should be medium-rare).
• Remove the duck from the pan and slice the breasts crosswise or diagonally.
• For serving, arrange the slices on each plate, drizzle the duck with the warm balsamic cherry glaze and garnish each serving with two fried sage leaves.

Steps:

• Place duck breast halves between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Pound lightly to even thickness (about 1/2 to 3/4 inch). Discard plastic wrap. Using sharp knife, score skin in 3/4-inch diamond pattern (do not cut into flesh). DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cover and chill.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle duck with salt and pepper. Add duck, skin side down, to skillet and cook until skin is browned and crisp, about 5 minutes. Turn duck breasts over, reduce heat to medium, and cook until browned and cooked to desired doneness, about 4 minutes longer for small breasts and 8 minutes longer for large breast for medium-rare. Transfer to work surface, tent with foil to keep warm, and let rest 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pour off all but 2 tablespoons drippings from skillet. Add shallot to skillet and stir over medium heat 30 seconds. Add broth, cherries, Port, and honey. Increase heat to high and boil until sauce is reduced to glaze, stirring often, about 3 minutes. Whisk in 1 tablespoon cold butter. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
• Thinly slice duck. Fan slices out on plates. Spoon sauce over and serve.
• What to drink:
• With the duck, pour a medium-bodied red from Spain's Rioja region. We like the Viña Santurnia 2005 Crianza Rioja ($13), which has black cherry flavors and smoky notes.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 to 400 degrees F.
• First don't use frozen duck breast. Go to your local butcher if they don't have it, usually they have no problem ordering it special for you. :).
• Score each breast shallowly in a crisscross fashion. Do NOT slice to the meat. These cuts allows the fat to render into the pan and the skin to get crispy.
• I like to use my cast iron skillet, you could also use stainless steel. I do NOT recommend using a non stick skillet. It needs to be oven proof.
• Sprinkle each breast on both sides with salt and pepper. You can be generous with the salt on the skin side. It really helps dry out the skin so you get a super crispy skin.
• Heat skillet over medium high heat. Place duck breasts skin side down and cook for about 5 minutes or until the skin is golden brown. Remember watch it carefully you want to crisp the skin, but not overcook the meat. You might have to lower the temperature a bit. Patience is the main ingredient for a perfect duck breast. I reserve the fat that renders off and use with roasted potatoes or anything really. It's so tasty. Remove the drippings from the pan before placing in the oven.
• Place your skillet with your duck breasts into the preheated oven. Cook for about 12 minutes or until Medium Rare. Remember watch your duck carefully because cooking time varies on how thick your breast is and how much has already cooked through on stove top. It will also carry over cook once you remove from oven. If you have a thermometer it should read about 125 to 130.
• Do NOT turn your breasts. It still should be skin side down.
• Remove to warm plate skin side up and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes and then slice about 1/2 inch thick and on the diagonal and serve with onion marmalade. ( Recipe Below).
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• Balsamic Onion Marmalade.
• In a large heavy pan, combine the red onions and brown sugar and cook over Medium to Medium high heat, stirring often, until the onions begin to caramelize about 20 minutes.
• Stir in the wine and vinegar, increase the heat to Medium high stirring often, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside to cool.

Steps:

• Score the fat on the skin side of the duck breasts with a paring knife in a crisscross pattern, being careful not to pierce the flesh. Season the duck with salt and pepper on both sides and place skin-side down in a cold large skillet. Place a saute pan or other heavy pan directly on top of the duck to keep it pressed down and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
• Remove the saute pan and cook until the skin is fully rendered, brown and crispy, about 15 minutes. Increase the heat to medium, flip and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the duck breasts registers 135 degrees F, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Stir together the vinegar, dried cherries, honey, shallots and chiles in a small saucepan over high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until boiling, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer until reduced by half, about 15 minutes.
• Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the rendered duck fat from the skillet. Reserve the drained rendered duck fat for another use. Add the frozen or fresh cherries and the rosemary to the skillet and cook over high heat until the cherries soften, about 2 minutes for frozen cherries and about 4 minutes for fresh cherries. Add a splash of vinegar and scrape up any browned bits with a wooden spoon to deglaze the skillet. Cook until the cherries soften, about 2 minutes for frozen cherries and about 4 minutes for fresh cherries.
• Slice each duck breast into 1/2-inch-thick slices on the bias. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the dried cherry agrodolce sauce in the center of a plate, top with a quarter of the duck and garnish with a quarter of the duck fat-sauteed cherries. Repeat with the remaining sauce, duck and cherries and serve.

Steps:

• Using a sharp knife, score the duck skin (fat) with diagonal parallel slashes 1/2 inch apart to make a diamond pattern, being careful not to pierce through to the flesh.
• Pour the balsamic vinegar into a shallow dish just wide enough to fit the breasts in one layer.
• Add the duck, flesh (not fat) side down; cover and leave to marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature (can be marinated up to 2 hours refrigerated but remove for last twenty minutes at room temperature).
• Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add duck, fat side down and cook until crispy, about 5 minutes (covered to avoid spattering).
• After the 5 minutes, carefully pour the rendered fat from the pan and wipe the outside of the pan of any grease that may have dripped there before placing back on the stove.
• Turn the duck breasts over and continue to cook: about 5 minutes more for rare, 8 for medium rare, and 10 minutes for well done, but of course depending on the size of the duck breasts.
• Remove duck from pan to cutting board and slice thinly against the grain.
• Serve immediately, passing extra balsamic vinegar for drizzling if desired.

Steps:

• For the duck, mix the cinnamon and the sugar.
• Score the fat of the duck breast and season with salt and pepper.
• Spread the cinnamon sugar over the top and press into the fat.
• Set aside in the fridge to marinate for 4 to 12 hours.
• For the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and heat until the sauce has reduced by at least half, to a syrupy consistency.
• Sear the duck breast in a non-stick pan over a medium heat until the fat has rendered and the skin is crispy, about 4 minutes.
• Transfer the duck breasts to a 375°F oven to finish cooking for about 7 minutes.
• Remove the breasts from the oven and set aside in a warm place to rest for a couple of minutes before slicing very thinly.
• Serve the sauce with the duck.