Bonus Recipe: Duck Breast in Pink Peppercorn Sauce

The Other Red Meat

Last month I wrote about one of my pet peeves, — the marketing and reengineering of pork as “the other white meat” to Americans.  But I will be the head cheerleader for any PR campaign that promotes duck as a favorable red meat alternative. To the best of my knowledge, no such promotion exists. To begin to rectify this, KD will have a few more duck recipes throughout the year. This one celebrates a really easy and unusual duck breast dish. 

I have written about my favorite technique for making duck confit with the beefy legs from Moulard ducks. I think that the Moulard duck breasts, often marketed as “Magret”  are really too big and  not as tasty as the smaller duck breasts you can find, if you search hard.  The Moulard duck is a cross breed between a male Muscovy duck and a female Pekin duck. Both the legs and the breasts are larger than any other duck on the market. Moulard duck breasts weigh anywhere from 10 oz  (female) to a pound (male). The Pekin ones range from 6 to 8oz. The term magret is a French word meaning “filet” cut from the breast of any duck and is not specific to any particular breed. 

The Right Duck

I have found a source for the smaller  and more tender duck breasts from Maple Leaf Farms, which I get locally from Butcher’s Alley in Bethesda, MD.  You can also order online directly from their site. Maple Leaf Farms specialize in Pekin duck products. They state some pretty interesting facts about ducks. According to their site, duck fat is the closest animal fat to olive oil, being made up of mainly monounsaturated fats. I was surprised to read that duck is lower in fat than many protein sources. It has less than half the fat of beef and pork per serving, and even less than most other poultry.

Gourmet Strikes Again

I love this recipe both as a meal for two and for easy entertaining. It is from the 2005 Best Of Gourmet – and from the emails I have received, I am not the only one who clings to their worn out copies of this iconic American food magazine, as well as the annual cookbooks featuring 12 months of recipes the following year – so the 2005 book would reflect the recipes from 2004.

This Gourmet recipe indicates a long gentle sear for the success of this dish. I have finally learned that, unlike searing steak, duck breasts should be seared over low medium heat, fat side first. I now do a series of cross-hatch incisions on the fat side, taking care not to cut into the meat, but sometimes I miss and this is not a grave error. Keep the fat that is rendered as it is a great medium for sautéing potatoes.

Sauté Savvy

Carbon steel pans, or commercial weight aluminum, or copper pans – all are terrific for this type of slow sauté. Stainless steel by itself does not work well, as its heat conductivity is poor.  I found that enameled cast iron, due to its enamel barrier, makes it more difficult to get a golden sear. Cast iron works, but it is slow to lower the temperature if it gets too hot, and as you can read from the directions below, a slow sauté is important.

If you do not own a carbon steel pan and are considering a purchase, all of mine, which I have had for many years, are from DeBuyer in France. They are an affiliate sponsor of KD. Serious Eats recommends carbon steel pans from Mauviel, Vollrath and a new-to-me manufacturer –CRUXGG. 

Classic demi-glace provides an enriched sauce base, and I have used both the veal and the duck Demi Glace from More Than Gourmet. You can also reduce a veal or duck broth (or a combination of the two)  from 3-4 cups to 3/4 cup to achieve similar (although less rich) flavor for the sauce.  Pink peppercorns (which are not really peppercorns) are crushed easily and should not be substituted by black peppercorns. They have a slight fruity flavor along with a light peppery bite. I use more than is asked for in the recipe.