Seared Duck Breast & Blood Orange

Pan-seared sumac and coriander dusted duck breasts with blood orange honey glaze.

This is a quick and easy recipe that will have you out of the kitchen and eating delicious duck in less than an hour.

Trimming and scoring the fat from the breast are essential steps to getting crispy skin on the duck. When trimming, cut away any overhanging loose skin. The trimmed skin can be rendered down and stored for later use. For instructions on rendering fat and its uses, check out my previous post breaking down a whole duck, rendering fat, and confit.

Scoring the skin allows the fat to render out more quickly, resulting in crispier skin. I usually only score the skin 4-5 times in opposite directions. Heat also plays a part in rendering the fat. This duck is started skin-side down over medium heat and finished in the oven to allow more fat to be rendered before browning occurs.

This recipe has bright citrusy notes from the coriander, sumac, fresh cilantro, and of course, the blood oranges. Blood oranges have a much richer flavor than regular oranges and a dark red color that makes a beautiful glaze for this medium-rare duck.

Seared Duck Breast & Blood Orange

Course Dinner, Main Course
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 2

Ingredients

Duck Breast

  • 2 duck breast trimmed and scored
  • 1/4 tsp sumac
  • 1/4 tsp coriander
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp oil

Blood Orange Glaze

  • 1/4 cup blood orange juice 1 orange
  • 1 blood orange segmented
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • cilantro to garnish

Instructions

Duck Breast

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Trim and score the duck breast. Mix the dry ingredients together and coat both sides of the breast. In a small skillet heat the oil over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the duck skin side down to the pan. When the skin turns brown, put the pan in the oven. Cook for 4-5 minutes and flip the duck over. Cook another 8-10 minutes or until the duck reaches 130 degrees medium rare. Remove from oven and rest while making the sauce. Slice the duck and serve with sauce.

Blood Orange Glaze

  • Pour any fat out of the pan and place over medium high heat. Add the orange juice, segments, vinegar, and honey. Reduce until thickened. Serve with the duck and garnish with cilantro.

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