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Monthly Recipe - Duck Breasts in Plum Sauce

Happily for those of us who want to limit our fat intake, we can still enjoy the rich flavor of duck, provided the skin is removed before serving. The Plum Sauce combines with a wine and orange marinade to lend an extraordinary balance to the duck. Perhaps we should call this dish Well-Balanced Duck. You’ll notice that I use a flavor injector for marinating meat; if you don’t have one of these handy contraptions, you’ll need to allow an extra eight hours to marinate your duck. Serves 6

Ingredients

6 boned duck breast l or 3 whole ducks, about 4 pounds (1.8 kg) each Marinade
1/2 teaspoon light olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled, bashed, and chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine (I prefer dealcoholized chardonnay)
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Plum Sauce
1/2 teaspoon light olive oil
3/4 cup sliced onion
6 red plums, quartered and pitted
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/3 cup dry red wine (I prefer dealcoholized cabernet sauvignon)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup fresh orange juice Vegetarian Option (per Serving)
1/2 acorn or delicata squash, seeds and pulp removed
1/4 cup cooked garbanzo beans
1 teaspoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 orange, sectioned
1 red plum, peeled, seeded, and sliced into wedges
1 green onion, trimmed and cut into thin lengthwise strips
Sliced cilantro leaves

Directions

To Prepare the Duck

1. If you are starting with whole ducks, see sidebar for carving instructions.
2. Lay the duck breasts skin side down in a glass baking dish.

To Prepare the Marinade

3. Warm the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the garlic for 1 minute, then stir in the white wine, orange juice, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer very gently for 20 minutes.
4. Strain the marinade through a sieve into a measuring cup and pour into a flavor injector. Inject as much marinade as possible into each breast. Set aside any leftover marinade to use in the sauce. If you don’t have a flavor injector, pour the marinade over the breasts, cover, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. To Prepare the Sauce
5. Warm the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion until transparent, soft, and lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Add the plums, oregano, red wine, and sugar. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
6. Strain the sauce through a sieve set over a saucepan, discarding the pulp. Stir in the orange juice and set the sauce aside. (Vegetarian Option: Set aside 1/4 cup of sauce per vegetarian serving before proceeding to next step.) To Cook the Duck Breasts
7. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Dry the breasts and lay them in the pan, skin side down. (The reason I leave the skin on the breasts is to preserve moisture and make the meat more tender. All the fat will be drained before serving.) Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper. Brown for about 2 minutes to render some of the fat into the pan. Turn the breasts and seal the flesh side for another 2 minutes. Turn back onto the skin side for 4 minutes.
8. Transfer the breasts to a plate and remove the skin, being careful to reserve any juices that drain onto the plate. Return the breasts to the frying pan and lightly brown the skinned side, then remove to a warmed plate and cover to keep warm.
9. Pour the fat out of the frying pan, but do not clean it. Add any remaining marinade to the pan along with the reserved duck juices and bring to a boil, scraping the flavorful bits from the bottom with a spurtle or wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and strain through a sieve into the saucepan with the plum sauce. Stir to combine, then pour the sauce into the large frying pan.
10. Add the duck breasts to the sauce and warm over medium heat. Remove the breasts as soon as they are heated through and carve in thin diagonal slices across the grain. Vegetarian Option: Acorn Squash with Citrus and Garbanzos Season the squash with salt and pepper and bake skin side up in a roasting pan at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for 25 minutes, or until tender. Pour the 1/4 cup of reserved sauce into the well in the center of the squash, top with the garbanzo beans and Parmesan cheese, and heat in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and fill the squash with orange sections and plum slices combined with a few strips of onion and sliced cilantro leaves.

To Serve

11. Spoon a puddle of hot plum sauce onto a warmed dinner plate and arrange a few slices of duck breast on top of the sauce. Place a scoop of Celery Root and Potato Purée (Page 000) and a serving of Mesclun Salad (Page 000) with Fruit alongside. Time Estimate: Hands-on, 45 minutes; unsupervised, 25 minutes. Nutritional Information Nutritional Profile per Serving: 263 calories; 11 g fat; 4 g saturated fat; 37% of calories from fat; 20 g carbohydrate; 2 g dietary fiber.

Vegetarian Option Nutritional Profile per Serving:

178 calories; 3 g fat; 0 g saturated fat; 12% of calories from fat; 40 g carbohydrate; 5 g dietary fiber.