Seared Duck Breast with Dried Cherry Jus
Impress all your fellow “campanions” by preparing this easy main dish at your campsite. A few simple ingredients are all that’s required for this upscale entrée. Duck breasts often come packaged in a Cryovac bag which makes it an excellent item for the cooler. Cryovac packaging insures the product is sealed air-tight making it better preserved for travel as well as being ice immersion friendly. I used a liqueur called Ginja for the sauce which is Portugal’s national drink made from sour cherries. I’m not going to lie, the real deal is delicious, but a hard to find item in the USA. Port makes an excellent substitute or you can use a full bodied red wine or even a rose’.
Serves 4 Prep time: 5 min Cook time: 15 min
-
4 duck breasts with skin on
-
1 c chicken stock
-
¼ c Ginja, Port wine, or full bodied red wine
-
2 tbsp minced shallots
-
¼ c dried cherries
-
2 tbsp butter separated into 1 tbsp portions
-
Salt and Pepper to taste
Score the skin of the duck, in other words, # the duck. This lets the fat to escape as it’s cooking allowing the duck cook in it’s own oils which is a really great flavor enhancer. Season them on both sides with salt and pepper.
Heat a cast iron pan or a griddle over medium low heat. Once heated, add the duck breasts skin side down. Do not crowd the pan, they should not be touching. If your griddle or pan is too small to cook them so they aren’t touching, sear them off in batches. Cook without turning until the skin becomes very brown and the flesh begins to whiten around the edges, about 5-7 minutes. If the skin browns too quickly, turn the heat down, the flame is too hot and the duck will cook too fast on the outside leaving the inside rare or raw. Turn the duck over and cook on the flesh side for another 5-7 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the breasts in the pan or on the griddle with a plate or bowl. This will allow the juices to distribute evenly throughout the breasts and keep warm while you prepare the sauce.
Make the sauce:
Bring the chicken stock to a boil and reduce it by half. This will probably take 10-15 minutes. Add the Ginja, Port, or wine, shallots and dried cherries. Reduce the jus for another 5 minutes, until it becomes a little syrupy.
Turn off the heat, add the butter a tablespoon at a time and swirl it in the pan to incorporate it in the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cut the duck breasts into bite sized medallions on an angle starting from the bottom pointed end. Add the cut pieces decoratively to the top of a serving of the risotto or plated up on it’s own. Drizzle the jus over the duck making sure each plate gets some of the dried cherries.
Saude!!