Pan-seared Duck Breasts with Kumquats is this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice.
If you were to take a five-day getaway, I’m thinking you wouldn’t choose College Station, Austin and Dallas, as your destination choices. However, if you’re wandering along the presidential libraries trail as I am, the Lone Star State is a good place to visit. You may be wondering what that has to do with this week’s recipe choice.
Here’s the answer: JarJar Duck.
JarJar Duck, my main course at Chef Tyson Cole’s Uchiko restaurant.
While in Austin last week, I ate at Uchiko, a traditional and very hip Japanese farmhouse restaurant. Its talented chef, Tyson Cole, was named “Best Chef, Southwest” at the 2011 James Beard Foundation Awards. I ordered, as my entrée, something described as seared duck breast and duck confit with candied kumquat and endive served in a mason jar and pumped full of rosemary flavored smoke. When my JarJar Duck arrived, my traveling colleague, Donna Grauer, spectacularly captured the moment.
Cornbread with Caramelized Apples, Shallots and Thyme is quite tasty with duck.
Is it serendipity this week’s French Fridays dish is Pan-seared Duck Breasts with Kumquats? I love, love, love duck but JarJar Duck merely whet my appetite. (Sorry, Tyson.) After my plane landed in Aspen Sunday afternoon, I dropped my bags, grabbed my grocery list and headed for the market. Although I easily found meaty, tender and flavorful Muscovy duck breasts, there wasn’t a kumquat in sight. “We’ll have those when it’s closer to the holidays,” my produce guy said.
Donna’s and my first stop, George H.W. Bush’s library in College Station (Texas A&M).
A lovely bin of figs, sitting nearby, seemed to be shouting, Why not me? Bonne Idée. Pan-seared Duck Breast with Figs. While Dorie admits this is her riff of classic French cuisine’s Duck à l’Orange, she’s still kept the citrusy flavor by using kumquats. Better yet, with this recipe there are no last-minute tasks. Both the sauce and the candied fruit can be made days ahead. Dorie’s recipe is printed below. I substituted with figs but made no other changes. Delicious. Just delicious.
In Austin we visited LBJ”S library. Since The Sixties was such a seminal period for us, I think this library was our favorite.
Although Pommes Dauphinois, mashed potatoes or Celery Root Purée would be the perfect mate to this delicacy, I am currently playing with cast-iron skillet recipes. Cornbread with Caramelized Apples, Shallots and Thyme served as my side. What’s wrong with enjoying your bread, fruit and veggies all in one slice? (I’ll post that recipe soon.)
During this trip we visited three presidential libraries and one presidential memorial. So sad.
If you’re fortunate enough to have precious leftovers, make a sandwich, salad, or, what I hope do this week-end, duck enchiladas.
We are an international cooking group working our way through Dorie Greenspan’s Around my French Table, more than 300 recipes from my home to yours. To see the results of my colleagues cooking this week, click on our French Fridays link.
Directions:
Ingredients
- Candied Kumquats:
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 12 kumquats, each cut crosswise into 4 slices and seeded
- (I used 12 figs instead of the kumquats)
- Wine Sauce:
- 1 1/2 cups fruity red wine
- 3 small shallots, coarsely chopped
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 15 whole black peppercorns, bruised
- 8 coriander seeds, bruised
- 3/4 cup fresh orange juice
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons kumquat syrup (from cooking candied kumquats)
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Duck Breasts:
- 2 large duck breasts or 4 small duck breasts (about 2 pounds total), at room temperature
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- To Make the Kumquats (Figs): Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to make certain the sugar dissolves. Add the kumquats, lower the heat so that the syrup simmers gently, and cook for about 10 minutes or until the kumquats are tender and translucent. Set aside to cool. (Can be made up to 5 days ahead, sealed and refrigerated.)
- To Make the Sauce: Put the wine, chopped shallots, balsamic vinegar, crushed peppercorns and coriander seeds in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Add orange juice, bring to a boil and cook another 5 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil and cook until reduced to 2 cups of liquid. Strain the sauce and set aside. This sauce can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.
- To Make the Duck: Preheat oven to 250°F. Using sharp knife, score skin of duck breasts diagonally to create a 3/4-inch-wide diamond (or, crosshatch) pattern, cutting deeply into the layer of fat without nicking the meat. Sprinkle both sides of the duck with salt and pepper. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Place the duck breasts, skin side down, and cook until the skin is brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Turn and cook the meaty side for 3 minutes (rare) or 5 minutes (medium). Transfer the duck breast from the Dutch oven onto a sheet of aluminum foil and place in oven to keep warm.
- Drain the kumquats, reserving syrup. Pour off fat from the pot, leaving 2 tablespoons fat and place over medium-high heat. Add the sauce and bring to a boil, stirring until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in 3 tablespoons reserved kumquat syrup. Season with salt and pepper if necessary.
- Remove the duck breasts from the oven and foil and place in the pot for 30 seconds on each side. Slice the duck breasts crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Divide duck breast slices among 6 plates. Drizzle duck with red wine sauce, garnish with candied kumquats, sprinkle with crushed peppercorns, and serve.
The picture of you leaning into the JarJar duck is priceless. Sounds like you had a wonderful trip. The figs look delicious and I’m really looking forward to the cornbread recipe.
Love the fig idea here Mary! But I do think you should have served this one in a jar 😉
Ooh that looks so good! The cornbread, too. And I love the idea of duck enchiladas. You’re making me hungry.
LOVED your first-ladyish photo with pearls and all! And I love your diving into your jarred duck, too! I wonder if Bill would eat a fig version of Dorie’s duck…I would be certain not to mention the “F” word and he might go for it.
P.S. With the temps in the teens today, any place in Texas sounds appealing for a getaway!
JarJar Duck is absolutely hilarious and sounds (and looks) fantastic! I actually considered figs for a hot second, but stuck with the citrus theme. I’m definitely going to try it with figs! I’d use some our tree, but it hasn’t produced in two years due to the drought, so store-bought it shall be! Oh, and I’ll be looking for that skillet cornbread recipe! Mmmmm…
I can’t wait to hear more about your trip! You look wonderful! Yes, I’ll be waiting for your cornbread recipe! Have a lovely weekend! xoxo
I bet the duck enchiladas are going to be great! Love that you enjoyed your trip, Uchiko and all the libraries! Any more libraries left to go?
Wow Mary, The picture is worth a thousand words! You could not have planned such a great photo, peering into the Jar-jar duck!
I love the idea of figs for this sauce…a great substitution! I will be giving that a try!
Glad you had such a wonderful trip! Love all your photos! Happy Friday!
Great photos, all of them. That jar jar duck sounds like something special. And the corn bread looks pretty good too. My produce guy told me the same time, so I went with some tiny clementines. I didn’t have any leftover duck. Howard and I shared one breast. Any ideas for the extra sauce?
Sounds like your library trip was much more than linguistically interesting! The jar jar duck chef has quite a creative imagination. I think your portions look much better!
Happy that you enjoyed your trip, it must be very interesting. I like the idea of the figs with the duck, I know
Jim would love that.
Dear Mary, so nice to read that you continued on your jouney/quest to visit all the presidential libraries in the US – that adventure (if I may call it that) sounds so very interesting to me!
The idea to pair duck with figs sounds delicious – sweet sauces seem to pair extremely well with lovely duck meat and your cornbread is a wonderful side dish – I have made many a cornbread before but never with your flavor combination. That reminds me that I am quite behind in my Cottage Cooking Club recipes this month – it is that time of year when the Christmas bazaars are taking place at the schools and we are asked to bake a lot of stuff. I have plunged into really good “Stollen” recipes and tested a few for Saturday, I prepared thirty-two bags of my famous Sugar Burnt Almonds (and burnt my hands in the process)…and on Wednesday, I am starting my German “Julia Child Cooking Evenings” in a kitchen only a few houses (and kitchens) away from Julia Child´s former kitchen in this country – I am making A Leek Tart.
Hope all is well and do stay warm,
hugs and many kisses,
Andrea & Co.
I somehow completely missed the figs idea. Sounds delicious, though perhaps slightly less entertaining than the Jar Jar Duck:-) Love the picture!
Hi Mary, your trip sounds wonderful, the jar jar duck sounds very intriguing….love Japanese food.
I love hearing about your trips. I am new to duck but am quickly becoming a fan. Figs sound like a great accompaniment. Look forward to seeing you on TWD.
1) You used the world seminal <3.
2) JarJar duck 🙂
3) Love the fig variation – good call!
I left a comment but I guess your site thought I was spam – love the use of the word “seminal”. Jar Jar duck – how could you resist! Great idea on the figs.
Your duck and figs look fantastic, Mary, but its that skillet cornbread that grabbed my attention! I have been to Austin but always for some purpose that didn’t include time for a visit to the LBJ library. I need to change that! I love that picture of you holding your glasses with the LBJ statue holding his too! Take care.
Hi Mary, always certain on Lights on Bright No Brakes that no matter when I jump on to see what you are up to, it is inevitably, always interesting. I wonder how much insight into the USA and our history trailing the presidential libraries might provide, and if it opens your eyes to look at things in a varying perspective. It looks as if you had a good time. I’m sorry to chuckle on Jar Jar Duck though I was not not chuckling on your lovely duck dish substituting the figs which looks and sounds quite good. Though I do not Cook with Dorie, I just bought a duck breast last week to prepare for a Post- before this particular duck dish began showing up all over my inbox! It must be something in the air, duck, that is. I also purchased some duck fat at the same time, though unlikely ‘jar jar’ will be gracing my menu anytime soon.
Love, love, love the photos from your trip – what fun! I like the sound of this duck with figs – the dish was lovely and it would be fun to experiment with other fruits. Your caramelised cornbread is also a winner.
What a cool story. Thanks for sharing your adventure w us, Mary. Uchiko looks wild! My hubby & I will have to put it onto our travel wishlist.
Thanks for the delish recipe, too. Will try it w chicken asap.
That is pretty amazing you found a duck/kumquat dish! I decided to wait in this one until I can get kumquats, but your fig version looks delicious.