Roast Duck Breast with Spiced Blueberry Sauce

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I had a Gressingham duck breast in my freezer, left over from when I made the Ottoman duck dish that I’d had in Istanbul last month; supermarkets seem to invariably sell duck portions in packets of two. But it seemed a quick and simple thing to cook this evening so it came out of the freezer early in the day, in time to properly defrost. I briefly considered making a traditional orange sauce to go with it – a la orange – but remembered I’d recently made the chicken and orange dish so discounted that. Anyway, I had blueberries and surely one could made a delicious sauce with those to go with duck. Duck marries so well with fruit. I consulted the wonderful The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit, which I’m always turning to for ideas of matching flavours. It’s an invaluable book (a present from my daughter a couple of birthdays ago) and much used. Niki suggested that coriander seeds and cinnamon went well with blueberries and these seemed an ideal way to spice up my duck dish.

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First of all I prepared the duck by slicing with a sharp knife through the skin and then generally seasoning with salt and pepper and leaving it for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, I heated the oven to 200C/180 Fan. Then I put a small amount of olive oil in a pan and when it was hot, put the duck breast in skin side down and cooked on a fairly high heat until the skin was browning. I removed it to a small ovenproof dish, turning it so it was skin-side up. I put it in the oven for 12 minutes and once cooked removed it and left to rest for a short while.

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Meanwhile, I made the sauce. In the same pan I browned the duck, in the leftover juices, I added 1 small red onion, finely sliced. To this I added about 1/3 teaspoon coriander seeds crushed in pestle and mortar and 1/3 teaspoon cinnamon powder.

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I stirred and cooked for just a couple of minutes then added 50ml of red wine. Once that had bubbled up I added a handful of blueberries and stirred. I let the sauce reduce a little for a couple more minutes then added about 50ml chicken stock. I seasoned with salt and pepper and added 1 teaspoon maple syrup and then left the sauce to slowly and gently bubble away for a few minutes, till nicely reduced and the blueberries starting to break up a little. Check seasoning.

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Now slice the duck breast on a slant and lay on a warm plate. I like my duck breast still nicely pink in the middle but cook for an extra 3-5 minutes if you prefer it more well done.

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Carefully spoon the blueberry sauce over – a little directly over and some to the side. I served mine with some steamed purple sprouting broccoli over which I drizzled some olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. I had a few crisp roasted new potatoes on the side.

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It was a delicious meal. The duck was perfectly cooked for me and beautifully tender. The sauce had a subtle spicy edge that enhanced but didn’t overpower the blueberries. The blueberries shone through: a sweetness tinged with a slightly sour note; the red wine and stock reduction bringing a brilliant depth to the sauce. Definitely a success and more satisfying for having put it together according to my fancy and not following a recipe. However, if you follow my recipe I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

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A lifelong lover of good food and travel; writer and book editor

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