Duck Breast With Plum Salsa Recipes

DUCK BREAST WITH PLUM SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 215 Celsius.
• In a cold pan lay the duck breast fillets skin side down. Turn the fire onto the lowest setting and slowly render the fat. Once the fat begins to bubble around the edges of the breast, turn the heat up a little at a time until you are at medium high. Check to see if the skin is golden brown, then flip and cook the other side for one minute.
• Flip the breasts back to skin side down and move the pan to the oven and bake for 7 minutes. If your pan is not oven safe you will have to move the fillets to a baking dish that has been sitting in the oven since the beginning so it stays hot. While it is baking you can start the plum sauce.
• Remove the duck from the oven and let rest on a counter top for 5 minutes.
• Cut the breasts into about 1 cm thick slices. Plate and spoon over some of the plum sauce directly from the pan.

DUCK BREASTS WITH FRESH PLUM-GINGER GLAZE AND TOMATILLO RELISH

Steps:

• For the relish: Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• For the sauce: Preheat grill or side burner. Heat the oil in a large nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook until soft. Add the Thai chiles, ginger, curry powder and cinnamon and cook for 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until the sauce becomes thick, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Place plum mixture, in 2 or 3 batches, in a food processor and process until smooth. Remove marinade to a large bowl and let cool completely. Reserve 1 cup. Yield: 4 cups
• For the duck: Preheat grill medium-low heat. Season breast with salt and pepper on both sides to taste. Grill skin-side down for 5 minutes. Baste, using 3 cups of the plum sauce, turn, baste again, and grill for 5 minutes. Baste, turn and baste again; cover the grill and cook the duck skin-side down for 5 minutes. Baste, turn and baste again; cover and cook another 5 minutes or until well-browned on the outside but medium-rare doneness (total 20 minutes). Remove breasts to a platter and brush with the reserved plum sauce. Cover with foil and let sit 10 minutes. Grill the tortillas for 15 seconds on each side. Cut the duck on the bias into 1/4-inch thick slices. Brush some of the reserved sauce in the center of each tortilla, place 3 or 4 slices of the duck and a few green onions, wrap and serve. Serve with Tomatillo Salsa.

DUCK BREAST TACOS WITH PLUM SALSA

Steps:

• Using a spice grinder (such as a coffee grinder reserved for spices), grind the star anise, dried oregano, and Szechuan peppercorns to a fine powder. Dump into a small bowl and stir in the ground ancho, salt, and cinnamon.
• Pat dry the duck breasts with a paper towel. Use a sharp knife to cut through just the skin and fat, without piercing the meat, in 1-inch intervals, then repeat the cuts at a 90° angle to make a crosshatch pattern all across the skin. Sprinkle the spice mixture all over the duck breasts. Pack in heavy-duty resealable plastic bags, squeezing as much air out as possible, and refrigerate for several hours or as long as 24 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 450°F.
• In a small roasting pan lined with aluminum foil, roast the duck breasts skin side up for 10 minutes. Increase the heat to 550°F and turn the breasts skin side down. Roast until much of the fat has rendered and the skin is browned and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate, pour off the extra duck fat from the pan and reserve for another use. Let the duck breasts rest for at least 10 minutes. (If desired, wrap one of the duck breasts in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to 1 week for a later meal.)
• Warm the tortillas (see page 85) and wrap them in aluminum foil to keep warm.
• Meanwhile, make the salsa. Finely chop the jalapeño. In a small mixing bowl, combine the jalapeño with the plum, shallot, cilantro, mint, lime juice, oil, and a generous sprinkling of salt. Taste, add more salt if necessary; if you want more heat, add some of the reserved jalapeño seeds.
• Lay the tortillas out on a plate. Cut the duck breast crosswise into 1/2-inch slices, place a couple of slices on each tortilla, top each with the plum salsa, and eat.

SEARED FIVE-SPICE DUCK BREAST WITH PLUM WINE SAUCE

Steps:

• Marinate the duck breast with 5 spice powder, ginger root, scallions, salt, pepper and sesame oil for at least 6 hours or overnight.
• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees Heat skillet on moderately high heat, do not add any oil. Sear duck breast skin side down, brown both sides. Transfer duck to oven proof plate and cook the duck in the oven for 10 minutes for medium rare. Pour off grease form the skillet, add plum wine, add duck stock season with salt and pepper and reduce the sauce to 1 cup. Then incorporate the butter to the sauce and set aside and keep warm. Remove duck from oven let it set for 5 minutes before slicing.

SLOW-ROASTED DUCK BREAST WITH PLUM SAUCE

Steps:

• Score the skin: Using a sharp knife, score the skin in a cross-hatch pattern (try not to cut the meat).
• Marinate the meat: overnight or longer, max. for 2 days. Prepare a small pot - the meat should be almost completely submerged in the marinade, you can also use a thick ziplock bag. Whisk the ingredients for the marinade (red wine, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, jam, and spices), bring them to boil then leave to cool. Add the duck breast, skin-side up, cover, and put in the fridge.
• On the second day: Preheat the oven to 212°F / 100°C.
• Sear the meat: it's best to use an oven-proof pan but if you don't have such pan, just use a regular skillet then transfer the meat to a small baking dish.Remove the meat from the marinade, pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Place in a cold (!) pan, skin-side down. Turn on medium-low heat and cook for a couple of minutes or until the skin is browned and the fat rendered. Don't cook it over too high heat, the fat needs to be rendered slowly. It's good to weigh the meat down so that the skin that be browned uniformly - you can place a loaf pan on top of the meat and put an olive oil bottle on top to weigh it down. Turn the breast on the other side and cook briefly, until the meat is browned. Leave a tablespoon of fat in the pan and discard the rest.
• Bake: Place the duck breast in a small baking dish (I used a 20 cm/8-inch oven-safe pan). Pour in the marinade. Cut the plums in half, remove the stones, arrange them around the meat. Place the dish in the oven.
• Bake in a preheated oven for about 55-60 minutes or less, to your desired doneness. After this time the duck should be around 150°F (66°C). It should come to the 'well-done' temperature (160°F/71°C) while resting. If you prefer your duck breast medium, bake it for about 45 minutes, to 60°C / 140°F. Medium-rare is 52°C / 125 °F . The baking time will depend on how long you've seared the meat in the pan and how big your duck breast is (it's best to use a grill thermometer to measure the temperature!*).It's important to cook the meat to a temperature and not to time, you can measure internal temperature with an instant thermometer (stick it into the thickest part of the meat). Well-done duck breast (safe for kids to eat) should be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 71°C / 160°F. Remember that after removing the meat from the oven, its internal temperature will continue to rise.
• Remove the dish from the oven. Transfer the meat to a plate, cover it tightly with aluminum foil, and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes.
• Prepare the sauce: If the plums are very soft, remove them from the sauce, but leave harder fruits in (very soft plums will fall apart completely while reducing the sauce). Cook the sauce for about 5 minutes over medium heat until thickened. Discard cardamom capsules, star anise, and cinnamon stick.
• Serve: Cut the duck breast into thin slices against the grain*, pour the sauce over, serve with cooked rice and roasted plums. Optionally, sprinkle with coriander leaves and sesame seeds.
• Enjoy!

DUCK BREASTS WITH ROASTED PLUMS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange plums, cut side down, in a baking dish. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar, if desired; set aside. Score skin of duck breasts in a crosshatch pattern, about 1 1/2 inches apart. Season with salt and pepper.
• Place breasts skin-side down in a cold medium skillet. Place over medium-high heat until most of the fat has rendered and the skin is dark golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes. Pour off fat, and turn duck breasts, meat-side down.
• Place duck and plums in oven. Roast until meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the duck registers 125 degrees, about 10 minutes. Remove duck and plums from oven. Remove duck from skillet, and cover to keep warm. Let rest for 10 minutes.
• Slice each breast half into 12 thin slices. Place 6 slices on each plate. Garnish each plate with 2 plum halves. Drizzle with any accumulated juices from the bottom of the baking dish.

BLACK-PEPPER-ROASTED DUCK BREASTS WITH GRILLED PLUMS

Steps:

• Using sharp knife, score skin of duck breasts in crisscross pattern (cut skin only; do not cut through meat), spacing cuts 1 inch apart. Sprinkle duck breasts on both sides with 1 teaspoon thyme, 1 teaspoon pepper, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and chill.
• Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Toss plum halves, olive oil, sugar, 1 teaspoon thyme, remaining 1 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Grill plum halves, cut side down, until grill marks appear and plums begin to soften, about 4 minutes. Turn plums over and grill, skin side down, until skin begins to soften but plums still retain their shape, about 4 minutes. Transfer plums to bowl. Cover with foil and let stand while cooking duck.
• Heat 2 large skillets over medium-high heat. Add 2 duck breasts, skin side down, to each skillet. Cook until skin is crisp and golden, about 7 minutes. Turn duck breasts over and cook to desired doneness, about 8 minutes longer for medium-rare. Remove from heat and let duck rest 5 minutes.
• Thinly slice duck crosswise. Divide among plates. Place 2 plum halves alongside each serving. Drizzle any plum juices from bowl over. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons thyme and serve.