There are a few restaurant favorites that some home cooks repeatedly tell me seem too daunting and unapproachable to conquer in their own kitchens: seared scallops, lamb chops and duck breasts. Don’t succumb to the fear! They are all three actually very friendly dishes that you can easily master, trust me. Basically, they all simply involve pan-searing. Heating a tiny bit of oil or butter in a pan, seasoning the protein as you wish, and cooking in the hot pan until cooked through to the appropriate temperature. All three when done properly achieve a lovely brown crust from the high heat and the hot pan, which just adds to their lovely appearance and flavor.
Let’s take duck breasts for instance. Seared skin-side down first so that the fat accumulates and the skin browns beautifully, you then flip the duck and continue to cook the breasts until they reach the perfect degree of doneness. The pan then leaves you with duck fat, which freezes well, and can be used on your next round of roasted veggies or potatoes. You can then make a simple sauce in the same pan to accompany the duck breasts: a classic orange sauce, a red wine sauce, a berry sauce at the peak of summer, a balsamic reduction…and the list goes on and on.
For this simple pan-seared duck with a pan sauce I sautéed some shallots along with sliced garlic and fresh rosemary, then deglazed the pan with a touch of brandy and white wine; I the added halved ripe figs, seasoned with salt and pepper and enriched the sauce with a Tablespoon of unsalted butter. The figs pair beautifully with the warm taste of the brandy and the intense flavor of the chopped rosemary. Quality ingredients and kitchen staples combined make for impressive dish like this one, that will make your dinner guests think they have stepped into their favorite restaurant. No joke, serving this dish will automatically elevate your cooking repertoire to the highest level possible!
(To view this recipe, click on the blue title of the blog post above*)
Pan-Seared Duck with Brandied Fig Sauce
Ingredients:
- (2) duck breasts, 3 slits cut in the skin side
- Salt and pepper
- 1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 ½ teaspoons chopped, fresh rosemary
- 6 ripe figs, stems removed, halved lengthwise
- ¼ cup brandy
- Splash of dry white wine
- Splash of chicken or duck stock
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
Directions:
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Season both sides of the duck breasts with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place the seasoned duck, skin side down first, in the hot pan. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until the fat is rendered and the skin it browned and crispy. Flip the duck breasts over and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes for medium-rare. Remove the breasts from the pan; pour the accumulated fat into a ramekin to later use, leaving about 1 Tablespoon in the pan for the sauce.
- Next, add in the shallots, garlic, rosemary and ½ teaspoon of salt and a grinding of black pepper. Sauté for 3-4 minutes or until the shallots begin to soften; add in the brandy and wine, as well as the halved figs. Reduce the heat to low and let the liquid reduce by half. Next, add in the pat of butter. Allow it to melt to enrich the sauce. Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings if necessary.
- Serve the warm duck breasts with the sweet-yet-savory brandied fig sauce.
Tagged: brandied fig sauce, brandy, duck, duck breasts, duck with fig sauce, figs, pan-seared duck breasts, rosemary
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