Adventures in Duck Breast and the Hope of Crispy Skin

As I have discussed before on this blog that I am a huge fan of TV's Top Chef show on Bravo. I feel like its free cooking lessons! I learned how to cook many things from watching these shows - scallops come to mind. This last week, we decided to take on a duck breast from local farm - Countryside! We bought this from our local farmers market - it cost about $22. Yes, a bit pricey but not if you think about how much it would cost if you went out to dinner for the same thing. $22 would be a steal! I had 2 main goals and ideas I had stolen from FoodTV - the most important thing was to get a crispy skin on it. Ive seen people get kicked off Top Chef and Chopped for rubbery duck skin. I also knew that I needed to render the duck fat and then use that duck fat for a tasty side dish. I decided to to with potatoes and scallions.

We first removed the wing - wanted a flat surface to work with on the skin side. *Note that Vodka and Jack Daniels helps the duck cooking process.

Next we scored the duck skin in a cross hatch pattern. Just deep enough to cut open the skin but not into the breast meat itself. This is done to help make grooves for the rendering of the fat. Duck fat is a special thing.

Place the duck - skin side down in a cold pan. Cold baby!! No oil - no nuthin. Turn the heat up to a med/high and let it cook for 7-10 minutes.

Soon, the duck fat will start to cook off - this my friends is RENDERING THE DUCK FAT.
I feel like Padma is going to come around the corner any moment and comment on my rendering skills.

After 10 minutes - flip over the duck breast and then spoon the duck fat over the top. This will help get that sought after CRISPY SKIN! Cook for an additional 7-10 minutes for med rare duck.

Let the duck rest for 10 min with a tin foil tent to help keep all the juices in the meat rather than your cutting board. Slice at a slant - like a tenderloin. If its too rare, toss back in the hot pan for a minute quick sear!

With the left over duck fat - add sliced potatoes and onions or scallions. Salt and Pepper and cook till potatoes are tender. This is very very good!


Overall, we really loved the duck! The skin was crispy and tasted of bacon. I thought the meat tasted more like steak than chicken. Safe to say that we will be adding duck into our home menu! Thanks for looking and hope to hear your duck stories too!