Typically I’m more of a seafood kind of girl. Prawns, tuna and salmon are my heaven and I’m not really fussed about meats such as pork, beef or lamb.
Duck however, is my little knight in shining armor of the poultry world. For years I refused to try it protesting that ‘ducks are too cute to eat!’, of course I still think they’re cute but a couple of years ago I plucked up the courage to actually try the taste of duck at a Chinese restaurant and…it was delicious! Ever since that day whenever the opportunity arose I’d choose to have it at a restaurant, barely ever buying it to cook at home because it just never tasted as good.
That is until I cooked this little dish yesterday and what a beauty it is. It’s simple but it just works. The flavours combine in a way I never thought they could and the skin of the duck is beautifully crispy, leaving the meat to be deliciously tender.
To make it you will need:
Duck breasts
Salt
Pepper
Thyme
Chinese 5 Spice
Olive Oil
As you can tell I’m not one to measure things out, I prefer to just go by taste or smell believing that unless it’s a sweet dish, savory food is best made using a bit of guess work.
Start by adding a little oil oil to a frying pan at a high temperature. Mix some salt and pepper together on a plate, rub the duck into the salt and pepper and then sprinkle over a dash of olive oil, some thyme and Chinese 5 spice massaging it into the duck for best results.
Score the skin and fat of the duck, then turn your hob down slightly to a med/high heat and place your duck breasts in the frying pan skin side down. Place a plate on top of the duck and place something heavy on top (I used a casserole dish). This ensures that the skin/fat cooks faster and encourages it to crisp up. After a few minutes turn the duck over and cook on the opposite side.
Serve up with your choice of sides, we chose to keep it simple and had it with rosemary potatoes and sweetcorn. Viola!
