Elegant just got a lot easier
This sautéed duck recipe takes all of 15 minutes of hands-on time
With Valentine’s Day looming, here’ s an elegant en tree that any basic cook can execute with ease.
I’m talking about duck breasts with a five-ingredient sauce, the making of which requires just 15 minutes of hands-on time.
But first, let’s address common misconceptions about duck. Pekin duck — the kind of duck called for in this recipe and the one most readily available at stores and online — is not gamey. It’s also not fattening, especially if you remove the skin. (I’ll confess that I love the skin. It’s where all of the crispiness lives.)
Finally, though, there are at least three other reasons to roll with a duck breast on this special occasion, none of which has anything to do with health: It’s scrumptious, it cooks as quickly as a steak or a pork chop, and it’s a great landing pad for any of the sauces you would put on either of those meats.
The sauce in this recipe for sautéed duck breasts is a classic combination of French cuisine: shallots, wine, cream, mustard and peppercorns.
The cream doubles as a thickener because that’s the superpower it develops when it’s reduced.
Don’t have green peppercorns at hand? Use crushed black peppercorns. Or, if you’d prefer to lose the sauce’s peppery bite, leave out the peppercorns entirely.
Two tips about cooking duck breast: First, let it cook for the majority of the necessary time with the skin side down so that the skin becomes crispy and the fat is rendered out. Leave the hot fat in the pan as it accumulates; it helps to melt even more fat from the skin.
Second, be sure to let the duck breast rest after it’s been cooked.
As with any other animal protein, cooking the breast chases its juices to its outside layers. As the breast rests, the juices are reabsorbed, which prevents the duck from drying out when sliced.