Anitra Vivace
Submitted by Gordon Vivace
About the cook: A professional chef, but enough about me.
About the dish: Succulent duck breast with a Mediterranean take on Teriyaki-style glazes.
National Origin: Italian
Serves: 4
Estimated Time: 30 to 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
4 duck breasts
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper
Preparation:
Mix the vinegar, honey and lime juice together. The result should be a thick glaze.
Score the duck fat nearly down to the meat in a 1 to 2 inch grid pattern to hasten rendering.
Heat an oven safe pan large enough to hold the breasts with space between to medium-high. Add the olive oil and then salt and pepper the breasts and place them fat side down in the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for five minutes, or until the fat begins to render. You should have a nice pool in the pan and the fat on the duck should be evenly medium-brown.
Place the pan under a broiler or in a preheated 500 degree oven. Baste the breasts immediately and then every 3 to 5 minutes with the sauce while cooking, approximately 15-20 minutes in the oven or 10-12 under a broiler for medium-rare. Flip the breasts to fat side up about half-way through.
Allow the breasts to rest 10 minutes before serving. Cutting them to half inch slices on the diagonal make a nice presentation with ruby center to the cuts. Duck is also heavy, so if you’re not a huge eater and with sides you can easily get more than four servings out of this.
You can drizzle the breasts with the remaining sauce if it’s uncontaminated, but the basting should provide enough flavor.