Gourmet Duck a la Home

Ingredients:

• 2-4 Female Duck Breasts

Reduction Sauce

• 1 cup cherries, halved and pitted
• 1 cup sweet red wine
• 1/4 cup shallots, minced
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 tablespoon rosemary
• 1 tablespoon butter

Sage Butternut Squash

• 2 tbsp goat cheese
• 1/4 cup sage
• butternut squash, halved and seeds scooped
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Sage Butternut Squash

Preheat oven to 190C Rub halved squash with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place sage in squash cavity and turn upside down and roast ~1hr or until fork tender (this is about how long it takes for the reduction to cook, so its best to start this and let it roast while you prepare the rest of the meal). Let cool 5 minutes and puree with goat cheese.

Red Wine Reduction Sauce

Add shallots, wine and cherries in sautee pan over high heat and reduce until mixture is almost dry (~10 min). Add the beef stock and reduce heat to medium and let sauce reduce until it thickens to ‘coating the back of a spoon’ thickness. Add butter and stir until melted. Keep sauce warm until serving.

Duck

Score the fatty side of the breasts. Over medium heat, coat a skillet with olive oil and let it heat for 1-2 minutes. Add duck, scored side down and sprinkle with crushed rosemary. Sear for 7-9 min (depending on how rare you like it) and then flip and cook for 3 min. Remove duck from pan and let it rest for 2-3 minutes before slicing and serving.