Roast Duck Breast With Dried Cherries And Port Food

ROAST DUCK BREAST WITH DRIED CHERRIES AND PORT

Steps:

• Wrap each duck breast in plastic wrap and pound them with a meat mallet until each breast is about 1 inch thick. Place the duck on a plate, sprinkle both sides with a total of 4 teaspoons salt, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
• When ready to cook the duck, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Score the skin of the duck breasts with a sharp knife, making a crosshatch pattern but not cutting down to the meat.
• In a large (12-inch) heavy-bottomed, ovenproof skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Place the duck breasts in the pan, skin side down. Cook uncovered over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes, discarding the fat from the pan occasionally, until the skin is very browned. Turn the duck with tongs, place the skillet in the oven, and roast for 12 to 18 minutes, until the internal temperature of the duck is 120 degrees F for rare. Remove from the oven, cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil, and allow the duck to rest for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce. Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the shallots and saute for 2 minutes, until tender. Add the vinegar and cook for one minute. Add the Port, chicken stock, cherries, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the crème fraîche, orange zest, and orange juice and keep warm over low heat.
• Transfer the duck to a cutting board and slice diagonally, fanning the slices out on 4 dinner plates. Spoon the sauce generously on top, sprinkle with salt, and serve hot with extra sauce on the side.

GRILLED DUCK BREASTS WITH DRIED CHERRY-ZINFANDEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for direct grilling over medium heat.
• To make the spice rub: in a small bowl, mix together the ginger, five-spice powder, white pepper and salt. Sprinkle generously on both sides of the duck breasts and rub into the breasts.
• To make the sauce: in a saucepan, combine the stock, wine, dried cherries, soy sauce, and corn syrup. Cook over high heat, stirring often, until reduced by about half, 7-10 minutes.
• Remove from heat.
• Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook over medium heat for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, to thicken the sauce. Set aside and keep warm.
• Place the duck breasts, skin side down, on the grill, directly over medium heat. Cover the grill and cook until the duck is well-browned on the bottom side, 7-10 minutes, checking occasionally for flare-ups and moving the duck to a cooler part of the grill if needed.
• Turn and grill for 5 minutes more.
• Check for doneness by cutting into a breast or testing with an instant-read thermometer. Duck breasts should be cooked medium rare to medium, still pink at the center, or until an instant read thermometer registers 135 to 140 degrees F. Continue to cook as needed.
• Transfer to a platter, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 5 minutes. To serve, slice each duck breast on the diagonal and spoon the sauce over the slices.

ROAST DUCK BREAST WITH BALSAMIC AND APRICOT SAUCE

Steps:

• Make sauce:
• In a 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan cook shallot in 1 teaspoon butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Carefully add Port and brandy and boil until reduced by half. Add demiglace and simmer 5 minutes, or until reduced to about 2/3 cup. Pour sauce through a fine sieve into a small bowl and return to pan. Stir in apricot, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer sauce until apricot is just heated through and stir in remaining tablespoon butter.
• Preheat oven to 450° F.
• Put duck breasts, skin sides down, on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife and following shape of breast, trim all sinews, excess skin, and fat. With a fork carefully prick skin all over without piercing meat.
• Heat an ovenproof cast-iron skillet over moderately high heat until hot and add oil, swirling skillet until coated evenly. Pat duck dry and season with salt and pepper. Put duck, skin sides down, in skillet. Reduce heat to moderate and cook duck until skin is deep golden, about 3 minutes. Turn duck over and cook 2 minutes more. Remove duck from skillet and pour off fat. Return duck, skin sides down, to skillet and roast in middle of oven 5 minutes for medium-rare. Keep duck warm and reheat sauce over low heat.
• Slice duck on the diagonal and serve with sauce.

DUCK WITH PORT-CHERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Whisk soy sauce and Sherry in medium bowl to blend. Using sharp knife, make diagonal cuts at 1/2-inch intervals in duck skin (not through meat). Place duck, skin side up, in glass baking dish. Pour marinade over. Cover duck with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours.
• Bring cherries, chicken stock, beef stock, Port and thyme sprig to boil in heavy medium saucepan over high heat. Simmer until mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat heavy large skillet over medium heat. Remove duck from marinade. Add duck breasts, skin side down, to skillet. Cook until skin is crispy, about 10 minutes. Turn duck over and continue cooking to desired doneness, about 5 minutes for medium. Transfer duck to work surface.
• Add cornstarch mixture to Port-cherry sauce. Bring to simmer, whisking constantly. Add butter 1 piece at a time, whisking until butter is melted before adding next piece. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
• Slice duck breasts thinly on diagonal and fan out on plates. Spoon Port-cherry sauce over duck and serve.

PANFRIED DUCK BREASTS WITH DRIED CHERRY-PORT SAUCE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the Port and dried cherries; set aside.
• Using a thin-bladed, sharp knife, score the skin of each duck breast half in a crosshatch pattern, taking care not to cut into the flesh.
• In a small bowl, mix 3/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper.
• Season the breasts on both sides with the salt mixture.
• Place the duck breasts, skin side down, in a cold, large nonstick frying pan.
• Place over med-high heat and cook the breasts until the skin is crisp and a deep golden brown, about 10 minutes.
• Holding the breasts back with a spatula, pour the fat out of the pan.
• Turn the breasts and continue cooking until med-rare, about 3 minutes longer.
• Transfer the duck breasts to a cutting board and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.
• Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the frying pan and place over medium heat.
• Add the shallots and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 2 minutes.
• Add the Port and cherries and bring to a boil over high heat.
• Cook until the Port is reduced almost to a glaze, about 1 minute.
• Stir in the stock, return to a boil, and cook until the sauce is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.
• Remove from the heat.
• Whisk in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, completely incorporating each addition before adding more butter.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper; keep warm.
• Holding a thin, sharp knife at a 45-degree angle, slice each duck breast half on the diagonal.
• Slip the knife under each sliced breast, transfer to individual plates and fan out the slices.
• Spoon some sauce over each breast and serve immediately.

ROAST DUCK WITH CHERRIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a small bowl, stir together cloves, ground star anise, and ground cinnamon. Place potatoes, carrots, onion, turnip, and sweet potato in a roasting pan large enough to hold the duck; sprinkle half the spice mixture over the pan and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil and mix to coat.
• Rinse duck in cold water and pat dry. Rub duck all over with remaining spice mixture and 3 tablespoons olive oil; season generously, inside and out, with salt and pepper. Place duck, breast side up, on top of vegetables in roasting pan. Add neck and organs, along with thyme, bay leaves, and 2 cinnamon sticks. Cover pan tightly with parchment paper-lined aluminum foil; transfer to oven and cook for 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine cherries, red wine, sugar, remaining cinnamon stick, and whole star anise. Place over low heat and cook until cherries are soft and wine has reduced to a syrupy consistency, about 30 minutes. Reserve about 3 tablespoons of syrup for glazing the duck. Transfer remaining syrup to a small serving bowl; set aside and keep warm.
• Carefully uncover duck and baste with pan juices. Add garlic cloves to pan and re-cover with parchment paper-lined foil. Return duck to oven and continue cooking until meat starts pulling away from the bone, about 2 hours more.
• Uncover duck and brush with reserved cherry-wine syrup. Return to oven and roast until skin is crispy and dark, rich brown in color, about 15 minutes.
• Carefully transfer duck to a large serving platter. Let stand, uncovered, while preparing the vegetables. Transfer vegetables to a large bowl. Remove meat from the neck and add to vegetables, discarding bones. Thinly slice remaining organs and add to the vegetables; mash vegetables and meat together and season with salt and pepper.
• Transfer vegetable mixture to a serving bowl and serve immediately along with duck and cherry-wine syrup.