Pan-seared duck breast with crispy duck fat potatoes and cranberry-orange glaze.
This duck is a great fall dinner when cranberries are in season. The sweet tartness from the cranberry glaze balances the richness of the duck and the potatoes. I sautéed spinach to add some veggies to this dish. Quickly heating it in a pan with some butter, salt, and pepper. Green beans or broccolini can be added if spinach is not your thing.
Mmm, duck fat potatoes. How can anything cooked in duck fat not be delicious? I honestly don’t know. Not only are these potatoes delicious, but they are simple to make. Just slice, mix and bake. If duck fat is not available in your area, substitute melted butter. You can also check out my post on rendering duck fat to make your own.
Duck has thick fatty skin. Rendering out the fat is key to making duck breasts with crispy skin. There are a couple of things that aid the rendering process, scoring the skin and a combination cooking method. Scoring the skin essentially creates openings for the fat to leach out. The skin and the fat are then seared, jump-starting the cooking process.
The high heat from the pan starts browning the skin and allows it to continue cooking at a higher temperature when placed in the oven. The oven lowers the temperature of the pan. The lower temperature keeps the skin from burning while the fat is rendered, and the rest of the duck is cooking.
Seared Duck Breast and Duck Fat Potatoes
Ingredients
Duck Fat Potatoes
- 2 pounds potato
- 1/4 cup duck fat
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Cranberry Glaze
- 3/4 cup cranberries
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/2 tsp orange zest
- 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/8 cup water
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1/8 tsp black peppercorns
- 1/4 inch ginger sliced
- 2 sprig thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
Duck
- 2 duck breast scored
- 1 tsp oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
Duck Fat Potatoes
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the potatoes as thinly as possible on a mandolin slicer. Heat the duck fat to liquify. Mix the potatoes, salt, pepper, and duck fat. Make sure the potatoes are evenly coated. Layer the mixture in a loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and browned. Cool for 10 minutes, slice and serve.
Cranberry Glaze
- Combine all ingredients in a small pot. Turn on medium heat until it starts to simmer. Reduce to low. Cook until all the cranberries have softened. Press the mixture through a sieve, season with salt and pepper, and return to stove. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Duck
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a skillet with oil over medium high heat. Pat dry the duck breasts and sprinkle with salt and pepper. When the oil starts to shimmer add the breasts skin side down. Cook until the skin starts to brown. Place in the oven and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the breast over and cook for another 5 minutes or until 130 degrees for medium rare. Remove from the pan and rest for 2-5 minutes. Brush with the cranberry glaze, and slice. Serve with potatoes and more cranberry glaze.
