Pan-Fried Duck Breast with Apple Compote

Pan-Fried Duck Breast with Apple Compote

October 20, 2017

Servings: 4

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A simply elegant duck, smothered in apple compote - perfect for a dinner party or a romantic dinner for two.

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skin-on duck breasts, about 12 oz. each
• Salt and pepper for seasoning
• 2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1 TBSP butter
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 TBSP maple syrup
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar (dark is important - it really adds to the color of the compote)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

• Step 1 Score the skin of a duck breasts in a crosshatch pattern. Season the breasts with salt and pepper.
• Step 2 Start your compote so it can simmer while you are cooking the duck. Heat a sauce pan over medium heat and add butter. Add the apples and sauté for 2-4 minutes.
• Step 3 Add the orange juice, lemon juice and brown sugar. Simmer the apples over medium heat until apples are soft and sauce is syrupy. Str in syrup and cinnamon and then keep over low heat until the duck is finished.
• Step 4 Place the duck breasts in a cold pan, skin down, and start turning up the heat gradually. Render the fat for 10 minutes until there is no white fat visible.
• Step 5 Flip the duck breasts and cook for another 4-5 minutes over medium high heat. Remove from the pan and let rest before serving. Serve with the apple compote spooned over the crispy skin.

Thinking of entertaining on this beautiful fall evening?  When in doubt, turn to duck.  Once you’ve mastered the cooking technique, duck is one of those dishes that will impress even the pickiest of dinner guests.  Don’t get me wrong, cooking duck breasts requires a certain amount of finesse and I’ll admit that it was something that used to intimidate us in the kitchen.  If you don’t render the fat properly, it can be downright disastrous.  But never fear – we’re going to break down the simple steps to getting you the perfect restaurant-quality duck.  The rest of the dish, is just “gravy” as they say.  A lot of things pair well with duck, but I’m always drawn to a sweet or savory sauces of some sort.  On this particular occasion, we had just been to the apple orchard, so I dreamed up an apple compote and then finished the plate off with a simple roasted golden beet.

Our simple steps to the perfect duck breast:

STEP 1: Before you do anything with your duck, you must score the fat, in a crosshatch pattern.  No, this is not just for the aesthetic, it’s actually what ensures that you can fully render the fat when cooking.  Marc has mastered the perfect score (see below), but the most important rule is that you don’t want to go to deep.  You are just scoring the fat, not penetrating below to the breast itself.  Then season with salt and pepper:

STEP 2: Now that your duck breasts are prepped, you are ready to start cooking them.  Our personal preference is to cook them on the stove, because the skin crisps up nicely and almost caramelizes.  The key to this step is placing the breasts in a COLD pan.  Yes, that’s right, it should not be preheated.  You want to add the duck breasts, skin side down, and then start gradually turning up the heat to begin the rendering process.

STEP 3: You want to render for about 10 minutes, raising the heat gradually until you get to medium-high heat.  You will know the fat is completely rendered when no white fat is still visible around the edges of the duck.  Then flip your duck breasts (the skin should be golden brown) and cook for another 4-5 minutes or until the duck feels slightly bouncy when pressed.  This should ensure a perfect pink-on-the-inside medium-rare temperature.  See second image for the cut through: