Quack Quack !! Over the last couple of weeks I have enjoyed roast duck breast twice. The first at K Restaurant in the quaint College Park section of Orlando, followed by an "At Home" preparation last Friday. Both were wonderful.
Labor Day weekend found us a our good friend Carol's home in Mount Dora. Carol is a foodie and a very good cook in her own right. We have dined at most of the good restaurants in Mount Dora in the past so this trip we decided to branch out to Orlando. We made reservations at K Restaurant and Wine Bar which is located in an old house in this old neighborhood. The service was good and the food was even better.
I opted for the Duck l'orange served with a side salad, and duck fat roasted cubed potatoes, it doesn't get any better than that. The duck was a perfect medium rare with crispy skin, and the l'orange sauce was superb. There were even bits of candied orange peel in the sauce.
Carol enjoyed the Mussels in a Tomato Broth with an Arugula Salad with sun-dried cranberries, candied pecans, blue cheese and a wonderful house-made grain mustard dressing. Very good!
Frank selected the Penne a la Vodka which he gave a double thumbs up. I was "allowed" to try a bite of Frank's and Carol's selections and would gladly order either on another visit. The menu changes daily so you never know what might be offered next time, but I would like to return. Highly recommended.
On Sunday, Carol prepared a sumptuous Pork Tenderloin cooked to a perfect degree of doneness. Maybe Carol would be so kind to remind me what the sauce was on the pork - I only remember how much I enjoyed the meal. Thank you Carol.
About a week later, this past Friday, we decided to fix our own Ducky-Duck dish at my place. We were inspired by a segment from the Kelsey Nelson series on the cooking channel - Kelsey's Essentials. She prepared a Seared Duck Breast with Fig Sauce. (The recipe will follow at the end of the post).
A touch of sweetness in a duck sauce is aways a good addition, and the fig sauce was a perfect accompaniment. Frank ended up doing most of the cooking as I wasn't up to 100%. He did a wonderful job of preparing the duck to a delicious medium rare. (Notice a trend here on how we like our duck prepared). He served it with Haricot Verts Almondine with lemon and shallots. We will prepare the duck recipe again - it is a keeper. If you are not a friend of the duck, I would suggest the sauce on a pork tenderloin - it should work great.
What can I say, we enjoy good food whether prepared in a restaurant or at home. All of these meals exceeded our expectations.
That's all I'm Saying
Seared Duck Breast with Fig Sauce
TOTAL TIME:
45 min
Prep:
10 min
Inactive Prep:
5 min
Cook:
30 min
YIELD:
4 servings
LEVEL:
Easy
INGREDIENTS
DUCK:
•
Four 6-ounce boneless duck breasts,
skin scored in crosshatches, at room temperature
•
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black
pepper
•
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
FIG SAUCE:
•
1 shallot, minced
•
3/4 cup dry sherry
•
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
•
1/4 cup fig jam
•
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
•
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black
pepper
•
2 tablespoons unsalted butter,
chilled
•
Fresh chives, chopped, for garnish
DIRECTIONS
For the duck breasts: Sprinkle each
duck breast liberally with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a large
cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat. Add the duck skin-side down and reduce
the heat to low, cooking as the fat slowly renders and the skin becomes crispy,
8 to 10 minutes.
Once the skin is crispy and golden
brown, flip and continue cooking until a thermometer reads 128 to 130 degrees F
when inserted into the thickest part of the breast (for medium-rare doneness),
5 minutes. Transfer to a plate or cutting board and allow to rest about 5
minutes. It will carryover cook to about 135 degrees F. Don't tent with foil in
order to ensure the duck skin will stay crispy.
For the fig sauce: Pour off all but 1
or 2 tablespoons of fat from the skillet, reserving the excess for another use.
Over medium heat, add the shallots
and cook until softened. Add the sherry
and reduce by half. Next, add the chicken broth, fig
jam and balsamic vinegar, and continue simmering until the sauce
has thickened and is syrupy, another 5 to 7 minutes. (It took more time to
reduce the sauce - more like 10 minutes – just watch it until it reached the
right consistence. My comment) Remove from the heat, season with salt and
pepper and whisk
in the butter. Garnish
with chopped chives.
Serve the sauce alongside thinly sliced duck
breast.
Haricots Verts Almondine
TOTAL TIME:
25 min
Prep:
10 min
Inactive Prep:
--
Cook:
15 min
YIELD:
6 servings
LEVEL:
Easy
INGREDIENTS
•
Kosher salt
•
1/4 cup almonds
•
1 1/2 pounds haricots verts (French string beans), root ends removed
•
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
•
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
•
2 shallots, minced
•
Freshly cracked black pepper
•
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, toast the almonds over
medium-high heat until golden brown and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from
the pan, finely chop
and set aside.
Blanch
the string beans in salted boiling water until crisp but tender, 2 to 3
minutes. The salt will impart flavor as well as help keep the string beans crisp.
Immediately drain
and run cold water over the beans or plunge into an ice bath to cool and stop
the cooking process, then remove and completely dry.
Return the saute pan to the burner over medium heat and melt the
butter with the olive oil. Add the shallots, sprinkle with salt and pepper and
cook until starting to brown, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes. Toss the
drained beans
with the shallots
and add the lemon
zest and juice. Cook to heat the beans completely through, 1 to 2 minutes.
Remove from the heat and season with additional salt and pepper
if needed. Toss with the toasted chopped almonds and transfer to a serving
dish.
