Breast of Duck with Apples from André Soltner’s Lutèce
Duck, like pork, goes very well with fruit and other sweet ingredients. In this dish, duck breast is sautéed and served with an apple juice-flavored brown sauce and a garnish of butter-sautéed apple slices. The sautéed apples are also an excellent garnish for pork.
Duck breast has quite a lot of fat, which is rendered off during its slow cooking. Duck fat is a delicious substitute to butter or oil and prized in many cuisines. You may want to save the fat that renders off (strain it and refrigerate it), and cook with it later.
Heat & Knives
The Recipe
Source: The Lutèce Cookbook by André Soltner
2 whole breasts of duckling (the breasts of 2 ducklings), skin on
salt
pepper, fresh ground
1 tablespoon peanut oil, plus a few additional drops
3/4 cup Fond de Canard, or Fond de Veau [duck stock or veal stock]
3/4 cup natural apple juice
2 apples, Golden Delicious preferred
3 tablespoons (3/8 stick) unsalted butter
Split the 2 whole breasts, making 4 pieces in all. Score the skin of the breasts in a diamond pattern, 3 cuts in each direction. The cuts should go through the skin, and through the fat that is under the skin, but not into the meat itself. Season the breasts with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a skillet. Put the duck breasts in the skillet, skin down, and cook slowly, uncovered, for about 12 minutes. The skin should become golden brown and crisp, and the fat under the skin should be completely–or almost completely–melted away.
Pour off some of the duck fat, leaving enough to cook the breasts on the other side. Turn the duck breasts over, and cook them on the other side. Turn the duck breasts over, and cook them on the other side for 5 minutes. Remove the breasts from the skillet, and keep them warm.
Pour off all the fat from the skillet. Add the Fond de Canard (or Fond de Veau) and apple juice to the skillet. Reduce this liquid by 1/2.
While the liquid is being reduced, peel and core the apples, and cut each apple into 8 sections.
In a second skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of butter with the few drops of oil. Add the apples to this skillet and sauté them until they are lightly caramelized and just tender–about 4 minutes on each side.
Over heat, whisk the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter into the reduced liquid. Strain this sauce through a fine sieve.
With a sharp knife, slice the duck breasts. Arrange the slices in a fan shape on 4 plates. Garnish the duck with the apples, and spoon the sauce around the apples and duck. Serve hot.
