The fondest memory I have of duck's breast is from my oldest daughter's first birthday. We had invited friends over to celebrate the milestone. Because it was an occasion even though Anja could not really eat the meal with us, I prepared ducks breast with a strawberry coulis. Anja grabbed a piece, stuck it in her mouth, sucked on it for ever such a long time, until it came grey out of her mouth, at which point she demanded a new piece.
Materials:
* One duck's breast, or magret de canard, as the French call it
* A frying pan with a heavy bottom
* Pepper mill
* A fruit coulis (see purple bubbles)
Steps:
* Pepper the meat side of the breast. Do not remove the layer of fat. I know it looks enormous, but it is where the flavor is going to come from.
* Put your thick bottomed frying pan on the hob on a low heat.
* Once the pan has warmed, put the duck's breast fat side down in there. Keeping the heat low, the fat will start melting of the breast.
* Switch on the oven and start preheating it to about 75 C.
* Keep the pan on the hob for about 15 - 20 minutes, until the fat layer is much thinner. All the while you can take spoonfuls of the fat out of the pan. I save the fat, and use it for example for fried potatoes.
* Lift the breast out of the pan. Leave some fat in the pan and turn the heat to high. Once the pan is hot, put the breast back in, meat side down this time. Sear the meat for 6 - 7 minutes.
* Put the breast to rest for 10 -20 minutes in your preheated oven, while you get the rest of the food ready.
* To serve you slice the breast into roughly half a centimeter wide slices and put them on the plates in a fan shape, with some coulis sprinkled over the meat.
Because the combination of the meat with the fruit coulis is so rich, it is good to serve with a crisp vegetable, like fresh peas in their own pod. For carbohydrate you could serve pureed potato or a simple bread like a baguette, which will help mop up the juices from your plate.
* A fruit coulis (see purple bubbles)
Steps:
* Pepper the meat side of the breast. Do not remove the layer of fat. I know it looks enormous, but it is where the flavor is going to come from.
* Put your thick bottomed frying pan on the hob on a low heat.
* Once the pan has warmed, put the duck's breast fat side down in there. Keeping the heat low, the fat will start melting of the breast.
* Switch on the oven and start preheating it to about 75 C.
* Keep the pan on the hob for about 15 - 20 minutes, until the fat layer is much thinner. All the while you can take spoonfuls of the fat out of the pan. I save the fat, and use it for example for fried potatoes.
* Lift the breast out of the pan. Leave some fat in the pan and turn the heat to high. Once the pan is hot, put the breast back in, meat side down this time. Sear the meat for 6 - 7 minutes.
* Put the breast to rest for 10 -20 minutes in your preheated oven, while you get the rest of the food ready.
* To serve you slice the breast into roughly half a centimeter wide slices and put them on the plates in a fan shape, with some coulis sprinkled over the meat.
Because the combination of the meat with the fruit coulis is so rich, it is good to serve with a crisp vegetable, like fresh peas in their own pod. For carbohydrate you could serve pureed potato or a simple bread like a baguette, which will help mop up the juices from your plate.
