This came about because I had a jar of Seville orange and passion fruit marmalade sitting in the fridge that needed using up – and orange and duck is a classic for a reason. The sauce wants to be slightly more acid than sweet to cut through the richness of the duck, and you get that lovely background bitterness from the oranges. Get your sides made ahead so you can just reheat them – celeriac mash would be delicious.
Ingredients
Duck
- 2 duck breasts salted the day before, skin scored in a criss-cross
- black pepper
Sauce
- 1 tbsp cherry vinegar or another fruit vinegar
- 100 ml chicken stock
- 3 tbsp orange marmalade (mine was Seville orange and passion fruit)
- 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard a little less than
- 1 tbsp triple sec or Grand Marnier or Cointreau
- 2 knobs cold butter
To serve
- lamb's lettuce or watercress
- green beans cooked ahead and refreshed in iced water
- celeriac or potato mash
Instructions
Duck
- Put the duck breasts skin side down in a cold frying pan, then heat gently so the fat renders, about 8–10 minutes. Weigh them down with a press or a heavy pan if you have one, and keep pouring the fat off into a bowl as it renders (keep it for cooking).
- When the skin is deep golden, turn the breasts over: 1½–2 minutes on the flesh side for rare, 3–4 minutes for medium-rare.
- Rest on a warmed plate for 10 minutes.
Sauce
- Pour off all but about a teaspoon of fat. Turn the heat up a little, add the vinegar and let it bubble, scraping up the bits, until syrupy.
- Add the stock and reduce by half.
- Stir in the marmalade until it melts, then the Dijon and triple sec, and let it bubble until glossy and slightly syrupy.
- Add the duck's resting juices, then whisk in the cold butter and some black pepper. Taste – you want it slightly more acid than sweet.
Serve
- Slice the duck at an angle and sit it on lamb's lettuce or watercress, with the sauce in a jug on the side.
Nutrition
Calories: 395.3kcalCarbohydrates: 24.5gProtein: 46.2gFat: 10.4g