Duck Breast with Fennel Sauce and Oyster Mushrooms | You've Got Meal!

It’s duck season in the Youvegotmeal! kitchen, so it’s only natural that we had to cook a duck breast recipe. We had a whole duck that we portioned  into different cuts for different dishes, keeping the legs and the wings for some “confit de canard” and the breast for this recipe. You might recognize the last part of the title- the oyster mushrooms from a previous post. Frying them in tempura batter was a great side-dish for the meat. 

Ingredients: 

• 2 duck breasts, about 200 grams each, 
• 1 medium fennel bulb, 
• 400 ml of coconut milk, 
• 250 grams of oyster mushrooms, 
• tempura batter, 
• cloves, 
• ground cardamom, 
• salt, pepper, 
• soy sauce, 
• sugar, 
• chili, 
• fresh coriander leaves.

A couple of notes about the meat. We had a free-range duck (can I say that? Is it a thing?), meaning that the layer of fat that covered the meat was a bit thicker than what you would normally get. That’s an important thing to take into consideration because you want that fat rendered and, also, it affects the whole cooking time of the breast. Before actually cooking scar the breast on the skin with a sharp knife, careful not to reach the meat- this will help the fat reduce and give a you a nice look on the breast. Also, rub the duck meat with salt, pepper and ground cardamom.

 We started with the fennel sauce for this dish, the only reason being is that it took the most time. In a tall sauce pan, pop in the coconut milk, the finely sliced fennel, 1 tbs. of soy sauce, 1 tsp. of chili flakes or half of a fresh, medium hot chili, finely diced, 2-3 cloves, the sugar. Boil it down on until the fennel is soft enough to be pushed through a sieve into a sauce – 15-20 minutes.

1. For the meat, use a heavy base pan, put the meat skin side down in it and place it on the stove on medium heat. 

2.  We cooked from a cold pan to give the fat enough time to slowly melt and not just burn. 

3.  Cook the breast skin side down for around 10-11 minutes, turn and cook for another 2 minutes. 

4.  Remove from the pan and let the meat rest for 5-7 minutes on a warm plate.

Plate the meat, the mushrooms and the sauce, and sprinkle some chopped coriander leaves on top.

Enjoy,