Two nights ago, I found myself on the phone with my mother, trying to describe how one cooks duck breast. I had been telling her about a dinner I had with friends on Saturday night and the amazingly scrumptious duck I had eaten. She admitted that the only time in her life she remembers eating duck was once, as a Chinese restaurant, about 25 years ago. She hadn't been impressed then and just stayed away. I talked her through the whole process, but I could just tell that she wasn't sold.
However, thanks to Brys over at Cookthink, there now exists a perfect picture tutorial to show you how to go about pan roasting a duck breast. It is concise, complete and totally hunger-inducing. So go forth and cook duck breast without fear!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-14-2007 @ 3:34PM
logicalmind said...
About a year ago I had a duck breast I loved in a restaurant. I had tried duck before(pekin) but was never impressed. It turns out there are many kinds of duck with varying amounts of fat and flavor. After I discovered this I bought a number of the different kinds. I won't go into detail, but my favorite by far was muscovy duck breasts. I have been cooking them ever since.
My method is very much similar to the one in this article, but I do have a couple of differences. I score the skin, salt and pepper, and then place the breast skin side down in a cold pan. Then I turn the pan to medium heat. I find that placing the duck in an already heated pan causes the skin to brown before enough fat has rendered. Allowing the duck to heat from a cold pan renders much more fat and makes the skin crisp nicely. Once the skin is crisp I flip the duck and cook until the internal temp is where I like(about 125F). No need for an oven in my case.
And after trying muscovy ducks from several vendors I stick with http://www.grimaud.com/
I am in no way affiliated with them, but am a very satisfied customer. I highly recommend giving duck a try.
And a bonus tip, save the rendered fat in a pan and use it to cook some potatoes. Unbelievable.
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