Pan-seared duck with cherries

This recipe makes more cherry sauce than you need but it goes well on duck, pork and even on desserts. If you’re going to go to the effort of de-seeding all these cherries, you may as well have extra in the fridge!

Credit: Danielle Abou Karam

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 400 g cherries, pitted and halved
• 375 ml dry white wine, preferably Riesling
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt, to season
• 2 duck breasts
• 2 large roasting potatoes (Yukon gold, red or kipfler)
• 2 garlic cloves, bruised
• ½ cup finely chopped parsley
• 20 g butter
• splash of red wine vinegar

Instructions

1. Place the cherries in a small saucepan. Add just enough wine to cover the cherries, then add the sugar and a pinch of salt. Simmer over medium heat for 30-45 minutes or until the cherries are soft and the sauce has thickened.
2. Meanwhile, carefully score the duck skin in a cross-hatch pattern, taking care to not cut into the flesh. Season with salt.
3. Place the potatoes in a saucepan of salted water, bring to the boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until very tender but not falling apart. Drain and set aside.
4. After the cherry sauce has been cooking for 10 minutes, place a heavy-based ovenproof frying pan on the stove. Place the duck, skin-side down into the cold pan and turn the heat on to medium. Allow the heat to gently increase until the duck is sizzling away. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the skin is crisp and the fat has rendered. Flip the breast and cook the flesh side for about 2 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 55°C on a digital probe for medium rare. Transfer to a wire rack over a tray, skin–side up and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
5. Put the frying pan with the duck fat back on the stove over medium heat. Squash the boiled potatoes with your pan or a small plate to roughly break them up and put in the pan with the garlic. Fry in the fat until the potatoes are golden and crisp. Season with salt and toss with the parsley and butter. Transfer to a serving dish and keep warm.
6. Check that the cherry sauce has now thickened and the alcohol has cooked off, adjust the seasoning with salt, sugar and a small splash of red wine vinegar if necessary.
7. To serve, slice the duck breasts and arrange in a fan shape on 2 serving plates, season the inside of the breast with salt and spoon over the cherry sauce. Serve with the potatoes and a nice pinot noir.

 

Photography by Danielle Abou Karam.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.