Off-Campus Kitchen: Roast Duck Breast With Fig Sauce

By Laura Bryn Sisson, The Dartmouth Staff | 5/29/13 9:00am

I promised in my first Off-Campus Kitchen column I'd teach you how to make roast duck breast with fig sauce, and today, for my last column, I will! I'm about to graduate, so I wanted to leave you with the best meal I know how to cook. The savory flavor of the duck pairs so well with the rich sweetness of the figs, and there's nothing more succulent than the texture of medium-rare duck breast.
May this recipe serve you well (see what I did there?)

For the duck:
Four boneless duck breasts (thawed if purchased frozen)
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using a sharp knife, cut through duck skin without piercing the meat, slice in a diagonal pattern with each slice 3/4 inch apart. Rotate breast and repeat cuts so as to create a diamond pattern. Repeat for each breast. Rub a pinch of salt into skin. Divide duck breasts between two skillets on the stove, placing breasts skin-side down. Heat on medium for 7 minutes or until skin has browned. Fat will seep out; that's normal. Flip breasts and cook for another minute. Remove from skillet, place in oven-safe dish (I used glass), and pop in the oven. Allow duck to cook for another 6 minutes—for ideal flavor and texture, you want medium-rare. If you'd prefer your duck well-done, keep cooking for several more minutes. Remove each breast and cut into slices width-wise 1/2 inch thick, for the perfect presentation.

A note on the remaining fat: don't pour it down the drain! That's how clogs are made. I reserve the fat in jars, and place in the refrigerator until it solidifies. Then you can either pour it out or, preferably, save it for use in other recipes.

For the sauce:Two shallots
One 1/2 cup red wine
Four tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup dried black figsIf figs still have stems, chop them off. Halve, then quarter each fig. Dice shallots. Add a splash of wine to skillet on medium heat, then add shallots, and sauté until translucent. Add remaining wine, figs, and sugar, and turn heat to medium-low. Stir slowly, allowing sugar to dissolve. Let the wine bubble lightly—this allows the alcohol to cook off and helps the sauce to reduce and thicken—but don't let it get to a rolling boil. Continue to simmer for about eight minutes or until sauce has become thicker than the wine was to begin with.

Servesauce drizzled over duck, with additional sauce at the table.


Laura Bryn Sisson, The Dartmouth Staff