Chef Mik's Pan Fried Duck Breast

I love duck, I don’t care if its pan fried, oven baked, stuffed, in plum sauce or in another bird! Everything about it is great from the fat to the breasts and legs!! Duck goes way back in our culture as a people, there are hyroglifics in Egypt depicting farmers fattening up the birds to eat and bloating the livers for what we now know as foie gras. At any rate duck is not a difficult meat to work with and as such it is a great meat for even a beginner to try cooking, show no fear!! One thing to be aware of is that like most other birds ducks have their fat covering their flesh and ducks have a lot of fat which they use as insulation, for the cook this means there will be a lot of nice fat and good eating! Today I will be preparing pan fried duck breast to take advantage of that fat as it renders, however one thing to keep in mind is that one most first score the skin side through the fat so that it does not curl up while cooking, I will then use some of that rendered fat once the duck is finished and resting to glaze my vegetables and create my sauce, great stuff!

Shopping List

Duck breast

Poultry stock or mushroom stock, I am using a wild mushroom stock

Heavy cream

Duck fat or clarified butter

Red or black current jelly

Sea salt

Corse ground black pepper

My Mad Method

Score the duck breasts by using a sharp knife and slicing through the skin and fat but not penetrating the flesh

Season the duck with salt and pepper to taste

Heat either a tsp or so of duck fat or clarified butter in a pan and place the duck in the pan skin side down start browning the duck

After about 5 minutes place the duck in a 200c preheated oven for about 8 to 10 minutes

The duck will be ready when it is medium rare, if you push down on it lightly it should spring right back

Here is the underside of the breast were the fat is, it is now nice and crispy. Allow the meat to rest before cutting into it

Meanwhile prepare sauce by pouring some of the fat off (but reserving it for future use), then adding flour in equal to the fat mix well

On low heat start adding you stock or broth then the heavy cream stirring while doing so to prevent lumps from forming.

Reduce by one third to half

Finish the sauce with a couple clicks of butter if desired and a tsp or so of jelly

Ready to eat!!

Shown here with sautéed morels, and celery root purée