Roast duck with a fruit sauce

Cook it at home: Pan-roasted duck breast with cherry-cider gastrique, crisp potatoes and greens

Hudson Valley kitchens love duck. This is the bistro plate: duck breast with crackling skin, a sharp-sweet cherry gastrique, potatoes fried in the duck fat and bitter greens. Start the duck skin-side down in a cold pan so the fat renders slowly.

Pans and tools

• Heavy ovenproof skillet
• Second skillet
• Small saucepan
• Instant-read thermometer
• Jar for the fat

You’ll need

• 4 duck breasts, about 7 oz (200 g) each
• Salt and black pepper
• For the gastrique: 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
• 3 tbsp (45 ml) cider vinegar
• 1 cup (240 ml) apple cider
• 1 cup (150 g) pitted sweet or sour cherries, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup (240 ml) chicken stock
• 1 tbsp cold butter
• For the potatoes: 1 3/4 lb (800 g) small waxy potatoes, halved
• 2 tbsp duck fat from the pan
• 2 sprigs thyme
• For the greens: 8 oz (225 g) chard or kale, stems removed
• 1 garlic clove, sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 400F (200C). Score the duck skin in a crosshatch, cutting through the fat but not the meat. Salt both sides generously and leave on the counter 20 minutes.
2. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes until a knife meets slight resistance. Drain and let them steam dry 5 minutes.
3. Place the breasts skin-side down in a cold, heavy ovenproof skillet. Set over medium-low heat and cook 12 to 15 minutes, pouring off the fat into a jar as it collects, until the skin is deep golden and crisp and most of the fat has melted.
4. Turn the breasts, transfer the skillet to the oven and roast 4 to 6 minutes, until the center reads 130F (54C) for medium-rare. Rest on a board, skin up, for 8 minutes.
5. While the duck cooks, make the gastrique. Heat the sugar in a small pan, without stirring, 4 to 5 minutes until amber. Carefully add the vinegar, step back from the steam, then the cider and cherries. Simmer 8 minutes until syrupy.
6. Add the stock and simmer 8 to 10 minutes more until the sauce coats a spoon. Season with salt and pepper and whisk in the butter off the heat.
7. Heat 2 tbsp reserved duck fat in a second skillet over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes cut-side down with the thyme and cook 8 to 10 minutes without moving until golden. Turn and cook 3 minutes. Salt.
8. Wilt the greens in the olive oil and garlic for 2 to 3 minutes until just tender. Season.
9. Slice the duck against the grain, fan over the greens with the potatoes, and spoon the gastrique over.

Contains: ['dairy'].

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