Hello again friends and Odyssey followers. As you all know, I like to challenge and push my readers who are willing to live outside their comfort zone when it comes to cooking and what they are capable of in the kitchen.
Recently, we tackled how to nail perfect scallops time and time again. In this article I am going to go over the key techniques to making a delicious duck breast as well as giving you an easy to follow recipe that will undoubtedly result in extremely positive feedback from your dinner guests.
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First, let’s talk about how to properly cook your duck breast.
The issue with cooking duck for most novice cooks is the fat content on the skin side of the duck. Ultimately, the duck itself is a very lean meat, but the skin of the duck is so fatty that if not properly rendered it will wind up having a chewy and displeasing texture. A properly cooked duck breast is medium rare meat with a crispy and flavorful skin. Follow these steps and tips and you will be able to demonstrate what I’m talking about.
- First things first, one of the best ways to set yourself up for a nice crispy skin on your duck is scoring the skin of the duck breast. To properly score the skin you want to take a very sharp knife and drag it in a crossed angle pattern (making diamond shapes in the skin) across the skin without cutting into the actual meat of the duck. Scoring allows the heat of your cast iron skillet to penetrate the skin quicker and ultimately render a greater portion of the fat without burning the skin. Which leads me to tip two.
- The temperature of your pan is always important but when it comes to rendering the skin of a duck breast it is somewhat counter-intuitive. I personally made the mistake that I think most home cooks who know a thing or two about cooking would make and that is getting your pan too hot. Anyone who has seared a steak or scallop would be reasonable to assume that the hotter your pan, the better for searing and rendering this duck skin. Wrong. Duck skin actually needs to be cooked slowly to render properly without burning and carbonizing the outer layers of skin. My personal recommendation is to heat a cast iron skillet over medium to medium-low heat until hot and place the duck breast(s) in the pan skin-side down around the perimeter of your pan. The skin should sizzle as soon as it hits the pan. If it sizzles violently almost as if being fried your pan is too hot. If it barely or doesn’t sizzle at all your pan is too cold.
- After your skin is good and crispy, and your pan is full of delicious liquid duck fat, you are going to want to finish cooking the duck meat itself in the oven skin side up. However, be sure to pour off all of the rendered fat and SAVE IT! Duck fat is a great way to add flavor to otherwise ordinary ingredients such as potatoes. Your target should be a pink and slightly textured center. If it looks gelatinous it’s undercooked. If you’re the thermometer type your target should be 135°F - 140°F on an instant read thermometer. DISCLAIMER: The USDA recommends duck be cooked to a minimum of 160°F to kill any and all potentially harmful bacteria. Especially if you are pregnant or have a compromised immune system. Once the center of the duck meat has reached your target temp remove the pan and allow the duck to rest for 5 – 10 minutes so it can reabsorb its juices.
So with these tips in mind here is a way to make some of the most delicious duck breasts I know how to make.
Maple Lacquered Duck Breasts
Ingredients:
- 1/4 Cup Pure Maple Syrup
- Zest of one Orange
- 1/3 – 1/2 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flake
- 1 Teaspoon Fresh Thyme
- Salt
- Pepper
- Duck Breast(s)
Directions:
- In a small sauce pan warm up the raw maple syrup. Once the syrup warms and becomes less viscous/more fluid add in the orange zest, crushed red pepper flake and thyme. Cook for 5 – 10 minutes allowing flavors to combine and then add salt and pepper to taste. Keep
- Rinse, pat dry, and score the duck breasts as outlined in my tips above. Then season both the skin and the duck meat itself with salt and pepper. Place duck breast(s) in your cast iron skillet over medium/medium-low heat skin-side down, again as outlined above. Cook until fat is rendered and skin is crispy all the way through. Don’t forget to pour off and preserve the fat!
- Turn the duck breasts over, now facing skin-side up, and brush the skin liberally with the warm maple lacquer you made in step one. Put the skillet and lacquered duck breasts into an oven that has been pre-heated to 375°F. Reapply the maple lacquer periodically as the duck cooks in the oven. Allow the duck to cook until the center of the duck breast reaches the aforementioned temps (130°F for med-rare and up to 160 – 170°F for med-well).
- Once finished cooking remove the duck from the oven and the skillet and rest on a cutting board for 5 – 10 minutes.
That’s it. You have now conquered how to cook and duck breast and even have a pretty simple recipe to test your skills out on. I hope you have found this article helpful to your culinary pursuits. If you like what you’ve read here share this article with your networks and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @food_chenfer.
Until next time, enjoy!
