Don Morrison’s Duck a L’Orange

The members of Delta Waterfowl’s board of directors are carefully selected on the basis of their passion for ducks and duck hunting, and their leadership qualities. But anyone who tries this recipe from Director Don Morrison might suspect we choose board members strictly for their culinary skills.

Don’s recipe for sautéed duck breast served with an orange sauce is a keeper. 

Don starts by cutting a crosshatch pattern into the skin of up to eight duck breasts, slicing through the skin but not cutting into the meat. This allows some of the fat to escape from the skin while the meat is being sautéed.  Place the breasts in a large mixing bowl and brush them with soy sauce.

Next, sprinkle the meat with:

• 1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns
•  1 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds

Refrigerate the breasts for one hour (or overnight).

Before preparing, Don likes to bring the meat to room temperature.  In a stainless steel or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, sauté the breasts skin-side down for about three minutes or until the skin is deep brown.

Next, remove the breasts to a baking dish skin-side up and place in a 375-degree oven for 12 minutes or until the meat is medium-rare to rare.

While the meat is finishing in the oven, discard any fat from the skillet and start preparing the sauce by adding:

• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of sugar

Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the sugar caramelizes, which should take about two minutes.

Next, pour in:

• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice
• 1 cup chicken stock

Bring to a boil until the sauce is slightly thickened, which should take about five minutes.  To finish the sauce, stir in:

• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange-flavored liqueur

Remove from heat and stir in:

• 2 tablespoons of butter

Remove the duck breasts from the oven and let them “rest” for several minutes.  Resting allows the juices to be absorbed into the meat.  Slicing the meat when it comes out of the oven allows some of those precious juices escape.

Slice the meat diagonally, plate and drizzle some of the sauce over the top. 

When we prepared the sauce, we tried a couple on variations to Don’s recipe.  First, we strained the sauce to remove the orange pulp (if you use store-bought juice this won’t be necessary). 

Our sauce didn’t thicken enough, so we stirred in a small amount of roux.  Roux is made by melting butter and stirring in an equal amount of flour over very low heat.  We store the roux in the refrigerator so we always have some handy.

Break off tablespoon-sized chunks of roux and stir into the boiling sauce until it reaches the desired consistency. We like the thicker sauce because it sticks to the meat better.