Recipe Duck Breast with Mushroom Blueberry Sauce

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I had duck breast at a restaurant for a birthday celebration, and I was amazed by the flavor and texture: it wasn't just an expensive chicken breast. Instead, it was more like steak, but better, with a richness that I haven't had before. I decided to us a cast iron pan, because I like the consistency of the cook at all points in the pan.

Ingredients (for the Duck Breast and Sauce)
14 ounces duck breast (2 7-ounce breasts), retaining juices
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons honey
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
salt and freshly ground pepper

Ingredients (for Brussels sprouts)

1 pound Brussels sprouts
3 strips thick cut bacon
salt to taste
balsamic reduction (for serving)

Directions

1. Add blueberries, wine, stock, honey, and juices retained from the duck breasts to a pan on medium heat. Heat until reduced by half, stirring occasionally. Use an immersion blender to puree.

2. In a separate pan, melt butter on medium heat. Add mushroom slices to the pan, and sauté while stirring occasionally until mushroom slices are softened. Combine with pureed blueberry mixture and reduce heat to low.

3. While doing the first 2 steps, raise a cast iron pan to medium heat. Score the skin side of the duck breast with 1/2 inch (12 mm) diagonal slices, taking care not to slice through to the flesh. Score again with 1/2 inch (12 mm) slices at a 90 degree angle. Season both sides of the duck breast with salt and pepper.

4. Place duck breasts in the cast iron pan, skin-side down. Cook for 12-14 minutes. The skin will release a lot of fat, so cover the pan if you want to prevent spatter.

5. Flip the duck breasts over and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.

6. If using preparing Brussels sprouts, slice using a mandolin in 4 mm chunks. Cut bacon into 1 inch (25 mm) pieces and render in pan on medium heat, scraping occasionally to prevent burning. When the fat is mostly rendered, stir in the Brussels sprouts chunks, stirring thoroughly to coat. Stir occasionally until the larger chunks are softened and browned, and the smaller ones are starting to crisp up.

7. Serve duck breast with mushroom blueberry sauce. Serve Brussels sprouts with a balsamic reduction, or with the mushroom blueberry sauce.

 

[ElizabethB]

What was the doneness of the cooked breast? Medium/medium rare?

 

[JAS_OH1]

View attachment 73894

I had duck breast at a restaurant for a birthday celebration, and I was amazed by the flavor and texture: it wasn't just an expensive chicken breast. Instead, it was more like steak, but better, with a richness that I haven't had before. I decided to us a cast iron pan, because I like the consistency of the cook at all points in the pan.

Ingredients (for the Duck Breast and Sauce)
14 ounces duck breast (2 7-ounce breasts), retaining juices
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons honey
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoon butter
salt and freshly ground pepper

Ingredients (for Brussels sprouts)

1 pound Brussels sprouts
3 strips thick cut bacon
salt to taste
balsamic reduction (for serving)

Directions

1. Add blueberries, wine, stock, honey, and juices retained from the duck breasts to a pan on medium heat. Heat until reduced by half, stirring occasionally. Use an immersion blender to puree.

View attachment 73842
View attachment 73845

2. In a separate pan, melt butter on medium heat. Add mushroom slices to the pan, and sauté while stirring occasionally until mushroom slices are softened. Combine with pureed blueberry mixture and reduce heat to low.

View attachment 73843

3. While doing the first 2 steps, raise a cast iron pan to medium heat. Score the skin side of the duck breast with 1/2 inch (12 mm) diagonal slices, taking care not to slice through to the flesh. Score again with 1/2 inch (12 mm) slices at a 90 degree angle. Season both sides of the duck breast with salt and pepper.

View attachment 73844

4. Place duck breasts in the cast iron pan, skin-side down. Cook for 12-14 minutes. The skin will release a lot of fat, so cover the pan if you want to prevent spatter.

View attachment 73846

5. Flip the duck breasts over and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.

View attachment 73847

6. If using preparing Brussels sprouts, slice using a mandolin in 4 mm chunks. Cut bacon into 1 inch (25 mm) pieces and render in pan on medium heat, scraping occasionally to prevent burning. When the fat is mostly rendered, stir in the Brussels sprouts chunks, stirring thoroughly to coat. Stir occasionally until the larger chunks are softened and browned, and the smaller ones are starting to crisp up.

7. Serve duck breast with mushroom blueberry sauce. Serve Brussels sprouts with a balsamic reduction, or with the mushroom blueberry sauce.

I love how you didn't overcook the duck breast and served it medium to medium-rare with pan-seared crispy skin, yummy! How delicious this sounds.

 

[JAS_OH1]

What was the doneness of the cooked breast? Medium/medium rare?

I can tell it's medium to medium-rare, judging by the thickness of the breast and the amount of time it cooked.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Yes…medium rare. My wife loved it when I made it for her, so she invited her mom over for a repeat of the dinner. I forgot that everyone else in her family likes their steak incinerated…her sister goes so far as to ask restaurants to butterfly her steak and “just burn it”. They always overcook my steak when we go out to eat with them. Needless to say, I never order steak when I go out with my wife’s sister.

So, she popped it in the microwave, because it wasn’t done enough for her. *sigh*

 

[JAS_OH1]

Yes…medium rare. My wife loved it when I made it for her, so she invited her mom over for a repeat of the dinner. I forgot that everyone else in her family likes their steak incinerated…her sister goes so far as to ask restaurants to butterfly her steak and “just burn it”. They always overcook my steak when we go out to eat with them. Needless to say, I never order steak when I go out with my wife’s sister.

So, she popped it in the microwave, because it wasn’t done enough for her. *sigh*

So they all think your wife is "different" and you know that you got the good one in the bunch, LOL! There's something not quite right about people who disrespect food in that manner. A lovely and expensive cut of meat like that, a beautiful duck breast, cooked in the microwave? Talk about rubber duck! And the steak, well tsk tsk.

My husband's cousins do the same thing. We went out to a really nice, expensive steakhouse and they got the filet mignon cooked well-done. It was horrifying to watch them eat it. And don't get me started about my friend who puts ketchup on her expensive steak, no matter how well-seasoned or marinated it is. I have to avert my eyes when she is eating ribeye or filet as she dunks each bite into a pool of ketchup, coating the meat completely before putting it in her mouth.

 

[ElizabethB]

Yes…medium rare. My wife loved it when I made it for her, so she invited her mom over for a repeat of the dinner. I forgot that everyone else in her family likes their steak incinerated…her sister goes so far as to ask restaurants to butterfly her steak and “just burn it”. They always overcook my steak when we go out to eat with them. Needless to say, I never order steak when I go out with my wife’s sister.

So, she popped it in the microwave, because it wasn’t done enough for her. *sigh*

For years DIL was like that. Now she will at least eat a medium piece of meat when eating out. At home she still wants her steak dry and brown. Of course she also thinks processed cheese products are real cheese.