Divine Boneless Duck Breast With Port Wine Sauce
- Ready In:
- 9hrs
- Ingredients:
- 18
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
- 1 1⁄4 cups dry red wine
- 1⁄4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1⁄4 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 1⁄2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
- 1⁄4 cup olive oil
- 2 boneless duck breasts, whole, with skin on (approx. 2 lbs each)
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1⁄4 cup shallot, minced
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1 1⁄2 cups dry red wine
- 3⁄4 cup beef broth
- 1⁄3 cup heavy cream
- 1⁄4 cup tawny port
directions
-
marinade:
- In a bowl whisk together the wine, the vinegar, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, gingerroot, oil and salt and pepper to taste.
- Put the duck breasts in a large resealable plastic bag, pour the marinade over them, and seal the bag.
- Put the plastic bag in a large bowl and let the duck marinate, chilled, overnight.
- Remove the duck from the marinade and pat it dry between layers of paper towels.
- Preheat oven to 450.
- Score the skin of each duck breast in a crosshatch pattern with a sharp knife and sprinkle both sides of the duck with salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat 2 heavy skillets over moderately high heat until they are hot and in each skillet cook 1 of the duck breasts, skin side down, for 10 minutes.
- Turn the duck and cook it for 2 minutes more.
- Transfer the skillets to the middle of the preheated 450°F oven (wrap the skillet handles with a double thickness of foil if the handles are not ovenproof), and roast the duck for 5 to 7 minutes, or until a meat thermometer registers 145°F to 150°F for medium meat.
- While the duck is roasting, in a small heavy saucepan combine the sugar and the water, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved, and boil it, swirling the pan, until the mixture is a golden caramel. Add the vinegars carefully, swirling the pan until the caramel is dissolved, and reserve the mixture.
- Transfer the duck to a cutting board and let it stand, covered loosely with foil, for 5 minutes.
- Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from 1 of the skillets and in the fat remaining in the skillet cook the shallot and the garlic over moderately low heat, stirring, until the shallot is softened.
- Add the dry red wine and boil the mixture until it is reduced by half.
- Add the broth, boil the mixture until it is reduced by one third, and pour the mixture through a fine sieve set over the reserved vinegar mixture, pressing hard on the solids.
- Whisk in the cream and the Port, simmer the mixture for 1 minute, and add the beurre manié, a little at a time, whisking until the sauce is smooth.
- Simmer the sauce, whisking occasionally, for 2 minutes, whisk into the sauce any juices that have accumulated on the cutting board, and season the sauce with salt and pepper.
- Cut the duck diagonally across the grain into thin slices, divide the duck slices among 8 plates, and spoon the sauce over the duck.
- **A beurre manié is made by kneading together 3 tablespoons softened unsalted butter and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour.
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Reviews
-
I really enjoyed this, although I didn't bother transferring the duck to the oven I just finished it in the pan. I added some mushrooms to the sauce, and missed out the water/sugar step as suggested by MariaLusia and thought it tasted lovely. My only criticism would be that the recipe made far too much sauce - I reduced the quantities for 2 and still had twice as much sauce as I needed - seems like a waste of wine and port to me!!
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I'm really torn. The marinade, the cooking method, and the cooked duck were great -- five stars all the way. The sauce, though, was unbearably sweet, unrelieved by the vinegary overtones, And the cream and beurre manié produced an unappetizing puce color. I can recommend the duck without hesitation, but next time I'm going to skip the sugar business and deglaze the pan with wine, broth and port, eventually thickening the sauce with a bit of cornstarch.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Penny Stettinius
United States
Realtor in both Louisiana and Mississippi
Cooking destresses me.