Duck is definitely one of those rare splurge items that I love making for myself on occasion. It’s rich, indulgent, and makes me feel really fancy when I make it at home. Honestly, duck can be a little intimidating to cook if you haven’t made it before since duck isn’t like its other poultry friends; it’s cooked to temperature just like a steak and often can be rubbery or too chewy in texture if it’s not cooked correctly.

I prefer to get my duck from my local butcher shop where I used to work since I know I’m getting a high quality product and it’s large enough to feed two people. The duck I always get comes in a pack of two and they’re about one pound each, so I always freeze the other breast that’s vacuum sealed by my butcher for another day. Depending on your store, you can often find it in the speciality or freezer section. If your duck breast is on the smaller side, don’t worry, just cook two of them if you want to have enough for two people. Whatever works best! When it comes to meats though, I definitely suggest going to your local butcher shop for your favorite items or exploring meat delivery services like D’Artagnan Foods or CrowdCow for premium product. You’ll be able to taste the difference, I promise.

This recipe is a little involved so I broke up the ingredient list into sections based on each component of the dish. I decided on a fruit-based pan sauce since fruit and duck pair very well together. And the slaw is something I came up with, that in my head, was similar to a chow chow or relish; I love the acidity and crunch from the slaw that helped cut through the richness of the duck breast. It’s honestly such a great balance! If you want to keep this dish low-carb, simply omit the grits as a side dish and make another vegetable; a simple sautéed spinach or kale would be wonderful here.

Keep in mind that you want to make sure that you have all of your mise en place, particularly for the pan sauce since that comes together fairly quickly once you have the duck finished and resting. The slaw holds well so making that while the oven preheats is your best bet. Think of this as a recipe as well as a teaching moment in timing out your dish for plating. Let’s get cooking!

Spiced Duck Breast and Grits

Cook time: overnight marinade and 45 minutes active cook time

Serves: 2

Spiced Duck Breast

1 duck breast, skin scored

Kosher salt

Berbere seasoning

Apricot Pan Sauce

1 small shallot, thinly sliced

2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1/4 cup dried apricots, thinly sliced

1/2 large navel orange, juiced

3/4 cup water or vegetable broth

Kosher salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

2 small pats of unsalted butter, cold

Pickled Broccoli Slaw

1 cup broccoli slaw, finely diced

1 green onion, thinly sliced

2 large pickled okra, halved and thinly sliced

1/2 large navel orange, juiced

1/2 lime, juiced

3 tbsp pickled okra brine (see note)

Kosher salt, to taste

Black pepper, to taste

Cooked grits or rice, optional for serving

Note: if you don’t like okra, no worries. Many people don’t like the texture of okra, but pickled okra is nice and crunchy, and not slimy at all. Give it a shot! Otherwise, it can be omitted but just make sure to use another kind of acid for the brine as a replacement, such as apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar.

Using a very sharp knife, score the skin of the duck breast to form crosshatches, making sure not to cut into the meat. This will allow you to fully season the duck breast and help aid in rendering fat from its skin when searing. Liberally season with the kosher salt and berbere seasoning on each side. Duck is strong in flavor, so don’t be afraid to be a little heavy-handed with the seasoning, particularly on the skin side (there’s a lot of fat to get through). Flesh side, treat it like you would a steak. Place the breast skin-side up on a plate and refrigerate uncovered overnight. Drying out the duck breast in the fridge allows the spice rub to penetrate and season the meat and also helps with making sure the duck is dry enough for proper searing the next day.

The next day when you’re ready to start cooking, remove the duck from the fridge and let it come to room temperature, this should take at least 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 300ºF so it’s ready for the duck.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the diced broccoli slaw, sliced green onion, and sliced pickled okra. Add the orange juice, lime juice, and pickled okra brine. Taste and adjust seasoning to to your liking with kosher salt and black pepper. Set aside.

Place the duck breast skin-side down in a cold stainless steel pan and turn the heat on low to start rendering the fat. You won’t need any oil to sear the duck breast since there’s enough natural fat that will release during the cooking process. Cook the duck until the skin is crisp and most of the fat layer in the skin has melted away, roughly 10 minutes depending on the size of the duck breast. Throughout this process, make sure to drain the fat from the pan as it renders into a small bowl to prevent any scorching. And don’t throw away the fat! This is liquid gold! You can use the spiced duck fat for breakfast potatoes or any other kind of cooking. Label and store the rendered duck fat in the fridge.

Once the skin is crisp on the duck, flip it over to finish cooking for another 2 minutes just to make sure the bottom side of the breast surface has been cooked. Place the pan in the preheated oven and roast for 5 minutes or until internal temperature is 130ºF. Remove the duck breast from the oven and place on a plate to rest until serving.

Being careful with the pan (remember, the handle is hot from the oven), put it on the stove and turn the heat up to medium to sauté the shallot until slightly translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Then, add the sliced garlic and stir. Once the garlic is fragrant, deglaze the pan with the orange juice making sure to pick up any browned bits in the pan. Then add the sliced apricots and water or vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer and make sure the apricots start to plump up a little bit, roughly about 5-7 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with kosher salt and black pepper.

Once the sauce has simmered and the apricots are tender, turn the heat down to low and add the cold butter, stirring well and making sure to evenly distribute the butter. You don’t want your sauce to break, so work quickly. Once the sauce is able to coat the back of your spoon, also known as nappé, your sauce is ready. You can test this by running a clean finger down the back of the spoon and if the metal stays exposed without the sauce falling back into it, you’re good to go! Turn the heat off and spoon the sauce onto a plate.

Spoon the cooked grits or rice over the sauced plate. Thinly slice the duck and serve with the grits or rice. Then, using a slotted spoon, spoon the slaw over the duck slices.

¡Buen provecho!