Seared Duck Breast
I absolutely loveeeee duck! It’s not as hard as you think to make it just takes some time and patience! I served it with my 60 second kale & roasted sweet potatoes. Duck is always amazing with some type of fruit sauce since it goes so well with the tender meat! This is served with a cherry reduction and OH MAAAA GAWWD…it’s delish!
I haven’t been cooking a lot because work has been super busy but on Friday I decided to cook for myself & have myself a date night for me! It was everything I needed after a long couple of weeks.
Try it below!
Seared Duck Breast with Cherry Glaze. Served with Garlic Kale & Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
4 sweet potatoes (peeled & diced small)
1 bunch of tuscan kale (stems removed)
Note: run your knife down either sides of the kale and remove the stem
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 duck breasts (skin scored in Cris-cross shape)
salt & pepper, to taste
Olive oil
Cherry Glaze
1 cup fresh cherries (frozen is fine but holds a lot of water so be sure to thaw out first & drain)
Tip to pit cherries: take a knife and lightly smash it like your smashing garlic to remove the skin and the pit will easily remove. Be careful as cherry juice will squirt out)
3 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions (all in order of cooking)
Pre heat your oven to 375
Heavily season the scored duck with salt & pepper. It’s good to do this about 2 hours before you’re ready to cook your duck. Let the skin dry out as it helps with the skin getting crispy.
Sweet Potatoes: on a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Season your diced sweet potatoes with salt & pepper and drizzle olive oil. with your hands stir to combine to make sure all the sweet potatoes are covered
Stick the sweet potatoes in the oven fo about 30 minutes or until done (to keep them warm wrap them in the foil they were cooked on)
While your sweet potatoes are cooking it’s time to sear the duck!
Duck: In an oven safe pan (cast iron is best). on low heat up your pan for 3 minutes or so. Place your duck skin side down and slowly bring up the heat to medium. Sear for about 5 minutes.
Note: DO NOT sear your duck on high heat. It will SHOCK the duck breast and cause the duck to tighten up and your meat won’t be as tender. Always start on low heat.
Once your skin is crispy, flip the duck over and stick it in the oven for 8 minutes. Duck will be a good medium
Let it rest while you cook your cherry reduction
Cherry Glaze: in the same pan as the duck breast. Pour out the duck fast and on medium heat add the honey and let caramelize for about 2 minutes.
Add the red wine vinegar and let reduce for about 5 minutes until it gets thick (it won’t be super thick more on the syrup-y side)
Add in the soy sauce and let cook for about 2-3 minutes then add in your chicken stock and let the sauce reduce again for another 5 minutes until the chicken stock will reduce by half. Sauce will get “thick” again.
Lastly add in the cherries and let it cook for another 2 minutes and turn off heat. The sauce will continue to thicken, off the heat.
Kale: in a deep stock/soup pot with a lid on high heat add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. The olive oil should be very hot. Add in the garlic and let cook about 1 minute. The garlic will start to brown almost burn (you want that) as soon as they start to turn golden brown add in the kale with about 1/4 cup of water.
IMMEDIATELY cover the pot & turn off the heat for about 30-60 seconds. The steam will quickly cook the kale but it will still have a crunch to it (YUM!) Once the 60 seconds are over remove the lid and season with salt & pepper. Cover the pot again to keep warm until ready to serve.
Serve: once duck is rested slice duck. Serve the duck over the garlic kale & sweet potatoes. Spoon over the cherry glaze and enjoy!