Spiced Duck Breasts with Mandarin Oranges and Dates
Description
I’ll never forget the lecture and meticulous demonstration our instructor gave on the “proper” way to cook a duck breast during the last week of culinary labs before my fellow classmates and I were turned loose to operate our school’s restaurant. With all the pomp and circumstance afforded a chef in a 2-foot-high toque, he went through a completely overwhelming tutorial devised to scare us into thinking duck breast is too challenging for the average human to cook.While the method I learned in culinary school did deliver a beautiful medium-rare breast with a crisp, golden brown crust, achieving that same outcome doesn’t have to be so complicated or intimidating. Pan-searing duck breast, it turns out, is actually a relatively simple process, as long as you follow a few key steps.
Ingredients
- 4 (8-ounce) duck breasts
- 4 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 2 teaspoons ras el hanout, divided
- 1 cup uncooked couscous
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 mandarin oranges, peeled and separated into segments
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped
- 5 pitted Medjool dates, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Directions
- Pat duck breasts dry with a paper towel. Using a sharp knife, cut a 1/2-inch crosshatch pattern into the fatty skin, taking care not to penetrate the flesh underneath. Season both sides generously with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Sprinkle the meat sides with 1 1/2 teaspoons ras el hanout. Let stand, skin sides up, 30 minutes to 1 hour, until duck breasts come to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, place couscous in a medium heatproof bowl. Combine chicken stock, zest, 1/2 cup orange juice, turmeric, and 1 1/4 teaspoons salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high. Pour boiling liquid over couscous, and immediately cover bowl with plastic wrap. Set aside to allow the couscous to absorb the liquid while you prepare the duck.
- Place duck breasts, fat sides down, in a cold large skillet. Place skillet over medium heat. Cook until duck skin is crisp and deep golden brown and most of the fat has rendered, 6 to 8 minutes. Flip duck, and cook, adjusting heat as needed, until thickest part of each breast registers 120°F to 125°F on an instant-read thermometer for medium-rare, 2 to 4 minutes. Transfer duck breasts to a cutting board, fat sides up; let rest about 10 minutes while you finish the dish.
- Pour off and reserve duck fat from pan. Add mandarin segments, honey, 1/2 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/2 cup orange juice, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon ras el hanout to pan. Bring to a simmer over medium-high, scraping up bits from bottom of pan. Simmer until juice is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from the heat. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Uncover couscous, and drizzle in 3 tablespoons hot reserved duck fat. Use the tines of a fork to comb the couscous layer by layer until loose and fluffy. Add parsley, mint, dates, and almonds; toss briefly to combine. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Spoon couscous into centers of warmed plates. Slice duck breasts against the grain, and arrange them on couscous. Spoon pan sauce and oranges over duck and around plates.
