by sweet enough
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Photo by Sarah Shatz
A&M's Testing Notes:
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4
duck breasts with skin on
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2
shallots, finely chopped
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4 sprigs
fresh thyme
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1 cup
fresh sour cherries, pitted, stems removed
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4
fresh apricots, sliced in quarters
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1/2 cup
chicken stock
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1/3 cup
apricot nectar
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1/3 cup
red wine (I used a Pinot Noir)
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heat oven to 450 degrees. rinse and pat dry the duck breasts and score the fat in a cross hatch pattern. Sprinkle both sides with salt and papper. Place them fat side down in a heavy pan over a medium high heat for about 7 minutes or until the fat is golden brown.
Ask the hotline about this step!turn the breast over and place a sprig of thyme under each breast. place the pan in the oven and roast for about 7 to 10 minutes depending on how you like it cooked. remove the breasts from the pan and place on a serving dish and cover tightly with foil.
Ask the hotline about this step!pour off all but about two tablespoons of the duck fat. place the minced shallots in the fat and cook over medium heat for about 3 to 4 minutes. add the cherries and apricots and cook for about 1 minute then add the stock, nectar and wine. cook over medium heat until the sauce is reduced by about half. discard the thyme sprigs and correct seasoning.
Ask the hotline about this step!slice each breast and fan the meat on each plate. spoon sauce over the meat and serve.
Ask the hotline about this step!thank you for all your nice comments! I'm sorry to have not responded until now but I didn't see these until now. Anyway, jarred cherries would certainly work.
Love love the combination! (I'm a sour cherry fanatic) How do you think sour cherries in a jar (just in water) would work with this since they're already softened?
So nice to meet you last night! I will definitely have to try this - looks fabulous, and I'm always on the lookout for new duck preparations.
Heather,
I received a gift of frozen sour cherries for Rosh Hashanah and made the duck recipe. I used onions b/o no shallots, caramelized with about a teaspoon of sugar, and nectarines and plums b/o no apricots, port b/o I like port, and cherry juice b/o no apricot nectar. Added salt and pepper and 1 tsp of Koszciusko mustard. It was so good with the duck over rice, thank you!!
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We got our breasts whole, so after splitting them, and trimming the excess fat, we scored them. To properly score, cut through 99% of the fat, but try not to cut into the flesh. This allows the fat to render properly, and beautifully.
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We used a cherry pitter to take care of these sour cherries -- made the process much faster.
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Here, we're setting up all the ingredients for the sauce, so they're ready to go once the duck is out of the oven.
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You want to make sure to season both sides of the duck, and to do so aggressively. And while you're seasoning your duck, it's a good idea to turn the heat on, and warm the pan -- fat in a cold pan will often stick.
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While the duck looks a touch crowded here, the fat will quickly begin to render, and the flesh will tighten, leaving ample space. You'll want to keep the heat in the medium range, so that the fat renders and doesn't just melt (or worse, burn).
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Instead of pouring all the fat off at the end, we poured it off periodically through the cooking process. It makes the process slightly safer (much less splattering fat), and it avoids the possibility of partially deep frying the breasts. But be careful when you're pouring off the fat with the breasts still in the pan -- they tend to jump out. It's much easier with two people!
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The breasts are finished rendering when they're a deep golden brown, and a relatively thin layer of fat remains. They should be a touch darker around the edges, and crisp.
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Because we poured off the fat during cooking, only about 2T (what the recipe called for ) was left in the pan after roasting. Furthermore, there were some good looking juices that had appeared during the oven time, and we didn't want to lose those. So, we just kept what was left in the pan for the base of the sauce.
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Soften the shallots before adding the fruit.
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After we added the liquid, but before we brought the sauce to a boil, we switched pans. Boiling liquid in cast iron will turn it grey and cloudy. Gross.
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Slice the duck on a slight bias.
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Merrill's "helping" Amanda. Clearly.
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Finished and delicious!
I thought I'd only eat Chinese roast duck, but now I think I will eat yours too!