For an easy duck dinner, opt for duck breasts, which can be simply seared and then roasted and still give off a nice amount of that delicious fat.
Pan-Seared Duck Breast
Servings
2 Servings
Ingredients
- Grow & Behold Duck Breasts
- ¾ pound red onions
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons 140 grams sugar
- ½ teaspoon 4 gram honey
- 1 tablespoon 1 ounce balsamic vinegar
- Dash salt
Instructions
- For large pieces, prick skin all over with a pushpin (this will allow the fat that is under the skin to render out when cooking). Preheat oven to 400°F. Skip the pricking and preheating steps if your pieces are small. (smaller breasts can be finished on the stovetop)
- Place duck breasts into freezer for about 30 minutes, or until skin begins to firm.
- Place breast, skin-side down, in a cold frying pan over medium-low heat. Use an offset spatula to firmly press down on the pieces every couple of minutes. As the breasts heat up, the fat will begin to render. We recommend using a splatter guard. Drain the fat every few minutes as it builds up (save the fat). After about 10-15 minutes, as fat rendering slows, skin should be nice and brown.
- Flip breasts. For larger breasts, transfer pan to oven and cook to medium-rare (5-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the breast). Medium-rare will feel firm with just a bit of give. For smaller breasts, continue to cook in pan to medium rare. Remove breasts from pan and let rest for about 5 minutes. Slice into 1/8” slices and serve with Red Onion Marmalade.
- Marmalade:
- Slice onions into thin strips. Put in a heavy-bottomed saucepan with the sugar, honey, and dash of salt. Stir to coat onions evenly with sugar. Cover and cook over very low heat for about 45 minutes until onions are soft and translucent. Important: You are “sweating” the onions, not browning them! After about 45 minutes, uncover the onions and continue to cook until a sample cooled in the fridge begins to thicken to marmalade consistency.
- Remove from heat and mix in balsamic vinegar. Serve at room temperature with seared duck breast.
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Bella! That is so great to hear. So glad you loved it. I have made duck ahead and just served it warm/room temp, so it’s definitely something you could serve on Shabbat. It is so rich that it will not dry out. Another option is to shred it over salad (admittedly a rich salad) but this is also a good way to use up leftovers, even a little bit makes for a very rich dish.
Made this tonight to help empty out my freezer before Pesach. The recipe instructions were very helpful as this was my first time making duck. My husband was raving about how delicious it was and that he had never tasted duck better than this. Must agree that I enjoyed it immensely. Thanks!! Can you give suggestions/recommendations on how one could make and serve this for Shabbas Fri Night Dinner? Or would you suggest leaving it for a Yom Tov meal when you can make it up fresh?
Great. Yes, it’s very sweet but a little goes a long way to cut the fattiness of the duck. If you want something less sweet, a vinegar-based chutney is also a great option — here’s another recipe we love: https://growandbeholdblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/duck-confit-with-pickled-raisins/ (It originally appeared in Joy of Kosher print magazine Spring 2015)
I made the onion marmalade to serve alongside a whole roasted duck. The marmalade is very sweet. I’m glad I only used half the sugar it called for. We are looking forward to eating it tonight!
these were very good cooked a little longer till no red appeared
Glad it worked for you! Duck meat is more similar to ‘red meat’ in some ways than poultry and will always be a bit darker/redder — the trick is to get it to that sweet spot where it is done but not overcooked. Glad you enjoyed!