Duck Breast with Orange-Blueberry Sauce

SEARED DUCK BREAST WITH A SWEET, TANGY BLUEBERRY AND ORANGE SAUCE. OVER CARAMELIZED MUSHROOMS AND FENNEL.

For the second course of our Valentine’s Day dinner, we stuck with the sweet, tangy theme and decided to include some blueberries we had sitting in our fridge. We rendered down the fat on the duck breast before turning up the heat to crisp it up in an infused butter, then served it with some slowly caramelized mushrooms and fennel for some earthy contrast to the otherwise sharp and sweet dish. – Boo

Servings: 2 (main portions)
Difficulty: 

Oven: 350 F, 4-6 minutes

Orange-blueberry sauce:

• 2 navel oranges, juiced
• 4 oz blueberries
• 2 tb honey
• Seasoning
  0.25 ts salt
  2 pinches ginger powder
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 1 sprig thyme

1. In a small saucepan, bring all ingredients to a simmer. Discard rosemary and thyme sprigs after simmering for 2 minutes.
2. Stir and reduce by 25-33% to a thin syrupy or desired consistency.
3. Keep warm while preparing duck breast.

Duck breast:

• 2 duck breasts
• sea salt and black pepper, coarse
• Herb-garlic oil
  1 tb butter
  0.5 tb olive oil
  1 sprig rosemary
  1 sprig tarragon
  1 clove garlic

1. Score each duck with 6-8 shallow diagonal cuts on skin side. Season duck on all sides with salt and pepper.
2. In an oven-safe skillet, simmer herb-garlic oil ingredients until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Discard rosemary, tarragon, and garlic.
3. Over medium heat, saute duck on skin side in infused oil until rendered, 2 minutes.
4. Increase heat to medium-high, and sear until crisp, 4-5 minutes.
5. Flip duck breasts skin-side up, and transfer to middle rack of oven to finish cooking, ~5 minutes for medium-rare.
6. Remove to a plate to rest, 5 minutes.
7. Serve with orange-blueberry sauce.