duck breast with tart cherry sauce
Who doesn't like a quick and easy meal that looks fancy, too? My husband loves duck and often asks for it on special occasions, but I wanted something different than orange sauce to accompany it. I decided instead to try cherries. What I ended up with is quick, easy, and delicious over duck. Note: I chose the 'wild game' category for the meat because duck's not an option, but we've always just gotten duck breasts from either online butchers, our local Central Market or Whole Foods. Enjoy!
No Image
prep time
5 Min
cook time
20 Min
method
Bake
yield
2 (with leftovers)
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 - 1 lb duck breasts (moulard preferred)
- 10 ounces package frozen cherries
- 3 tablespoons pure cherry juice (bottled)
- 2 tablespoons blackberry patch tart cherry syrup (purchased at central market)*
- duck fat
- olive oil
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- dash cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
How To Make duck breast with tart cherry sauce
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Step 1Preheat oven to 430 degrees. Pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of duck fat into oven resistant skillet (I used a cast iron pan.)
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Step 2Slice duck skin across, removing any extra fat, pinfeathers or silverskin.
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Step 3Fry duck, skin side down, until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes. Repeat on the other side. Put into oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.
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Step 4While duck is baking, pour (thawed) cherries into skillet and heat, pressing with a wooden spoon to express all the juice. Put cherries and juice through a fine strainer, crushing cherries with the back of a spoon to get all the liquid. Put liquid back in skillet.
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Step 5Heat cherry juice to bubbling, then add sugar, cinnamon, cherry juice and cherry syrup, whisking with each addition. Sift cornstarch slowly over liquid, whisking so that the cornstarch combines without lumping. If the mixture is too thick, add additional cherry juice.
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Step 6Heat again until edges are bubbling, whisking frequently. The sauce should have a shine to it and be very smooth.
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Step 7Remove duck from oven and check temperature. Allow to rest for five minutes, then cut across the breast into small slices. Pour sauce over duck to serve.
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Step 8*If you can't find the tart cherry syrup, you can try a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. The end result should be faintly sweet but tart, with enough bite to lessen any gaminess and enhance the duck's flavor.
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