How to cook the Perfect Duck Breast
Watch ChefGary cook the perfect ‘pink’ duck breast with crispy skin
Duck is such a lovely treat and I really enjoy it as part of any menu. We have used the breast in our recipe today and served with spiced red cabbage, beer braised carrots and a deliciously rich redcurrant and red wine gravy. What’s not to love!! We have used a pan roasting technique to render the fat down before finishing in the oven. It’s really important to allow the time to do this poroperly and crispen up the skin which will give the lovely roast flavour to your duck and equally, keep the meat nice and moist. You should be able to get your butcher to trim the fat for you to your desired requirements though the more you leave on prior to cooking, the more of the delicious duck crackling you will have when eating. It may be a little naughty yet the flavour is so good!
Watch our video and follow our easy steps to guide you through cooking the perfect crispy skin, yet moist duck breast
Trim the duck breast of excess fat and score the skin
Massage a little oil into the breast and season well with cracked black pepper, rubbing plenty of salt into the fat of the duck
In a non stick pan, on a moderate heat, start the cooking process skin side down - there’s no need to add any further oil
Don’t play around with the duck - simply allow the fat to crispen up whilst cooking - takes about 8 minutes
Before turning over, add a knob of butter and a little extra duck fat if needed - this keeps the breast nice and moist
Finish in the oven for about 6 minutes at 180 centigrade
Take out and allow to rest for at least 6 minutes before slicing
ChefGary’s top tips:
Cook from room temperature
To spice up your duck a little, rub some 5 spice into the flesh a few minutes prior to the end of cooking time
Timings above are for medium cooking - reduce or increase the oven time as desired
As an alternatice family sharing dinner, enjoy your sliced duck breast with basmati rice, spiralised carrots, red peppers, cashew nuts and a soy and lime dressing. Load all into ice berg lettuce leaves, using them as a wrap.
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