Duck Breast with Orange Sauce
Quick Recipes Christmas Recipes French Duck and Goose
No, I couldn't resist! At the last minute, I wanted to post one more nice recipe for you 😉 Voila: duck with orange. But now I'll really leave you in peace to finish your Christmas preparations. Kisses.
Ingredients
2 duck breasts (with skin)
salt, pepper (black or green)
Orange Sauce
100g demi-glace (preferably duck, but I used beef)
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons orange liqueur (I used Cointreau, it gives a slightly bitter taste to the sauce)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
juice from 1 orange (about 60ml)
salt
Servings: 2
How to prepare duck breast with orange sauce
- Take the breast out of the fridge. Score the skin in a diamond pattern (see photo 1), being careful to cut only through the fat layer under the skin, not the meat. Salt the breast generously but only on the meat side. Don't salt the skin side. Let the breast sit at room temperature for 1 hour, skin side down.
- Place a non-stick pan on low heat.
- Pat the breast dry with paper towels so it's as dry as possible. Now salt the breast on the skin side as well. Sprinkle pepper on both sides.
* green pepper goes very well with the orange sauce flavor - Place the breast in the warm (not hot!) pan with the skin side down. Let it fry on low heat until you see the fat starting to render underneath. Then turn the heat to medium and fry until golden and crispy (about 5 minutes).
- Flip the breast and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
- Transfer the pan to the oven preheated to 200°C and let it roast for 6 minutes (rare; 55°C internal temp; see main photo at top), 10 minutes (medium; 65°C internal temp; see photo 6 at bottom) or 12 minutes (well done; 75°C internal temp).
* if your pan isn't oven-safe, preheat a pan in the oven and transfer the breast to it; I used a cast iron grill pan - Remove the breast to a plate (skin side up) and let it rest for 5 minutes.
- Prepare the sauce:
- drain most of the fat from the pan where you fried the breast (leave only 2-3 tablespoons)
- add the demi-glace, vinegar and liqueur; bring to a boil and simmer for 1 minute
- turn the heat to low and add the cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon of cold water. Cook while stirring constantly until the sauce becomes thick
- add the orange juice and cook for another 2-3 minutes on medium heat until the sauce becomes syrupy
- strain the sauce through a fine sieve (I used a tea strainer)
- adjust salt to taste - Serve the breast whole (skin side up on the plate) or sliced. Place sauce on the plate and arrange the breast (whole or sliced) on top. Decorate with thin orange slices. Side dish: buttery mashed potatoes.
Scoring the skin
Frying on the first side (skin side down)
Frying on the second side
The pan-fried breast
Slicing
Medium cooked duck breast
The orange sauce
