This was pan-seared duck breast with fig and port sauce, or
magrets de canard aux figues et au porto.
It was J's idea to celebrate New Year's Eve with duck. We talked about how to cook and a
recipe from my Williams Sonoma's "Paris" cooking book sounded nice. I adapted the recipe with some changes as usual. First I like duck but don't like its gamy and bloody taste. I soaked two duck breasts in brine (about 950 ml cold water, 1/4 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar, some black peppercorns, some fresh thyme, and a bay leaf) overnight. At 1 hour before cooking, I took the duck breasts out from the refrigerator, washed and paper-dried them, and according to the Paris recipe, drizzled 2 tablespoons of port over duck, seasoned with salt and pepper, press basil leaves into the both sides. I didn't know basil and duck were a good couple!
The Paris recipe used a "hot pan" method to pan-sear ducks. I rather followed a "cold pan" method that some chefs use - put duck breasts on a cold pan, heat slowly and cook slowly until the duck skin becomes golden brown. During it, I was busy to wipe fat rendered from the skin frequently with a paper towel, which helped the skin get crispy. This process took about 25 minutes, but it was worth being patient. My duckies had proudly the golden crispy skin! Then I browned their meat side over medium until the inside temperature reached about 130 F for medium-rare. It took quite longer that I thought. I was afraid of overcooking. I don't mind well-done for myself, but J would prefer medium rare. So, inside of the duck should be somewhere between rose and pink.
Meanwhile, our side dish, my usual
potato-leek gratin was being cooked in the oven.
Steamed asparagus was another side. When I saw a beautiful rose/pink color in the sliced duck breasts, I was relieved to know I didn't cook too much or too less!
Fig and port sauce was a key for the dish to success. I almost followed the Paris recipe with some changes like adding shallots and straining the sauce through a sieve later; replaced fresh figs with fig preserve because I couldn't find fresh figs in this winter season; and added one tablespoon butter in the sauce at the last. For red sine, I used Côtes du Rhône that was recommended by the recipe. The sauce was certainly sweet. Lovely on the duck breasts. It was very satisfying as the last meal of 2015!
