Recipe: Seared Duck Breast and Thighs with Mushroom Risotto

I don't think you can fully appreciate this post without reading the previous one and fully experience the ups and downs of dismantling an entire duck with me. Given the fact that it's been a while since the last post was put up, there is NO excuse for you to not have read it. Unless you're new here, then welcome, welcome ever so graciously. I promise I'm not completely insane.

For the past two months that I've been on hiatus I've travelled back to Taiwan, then back again to New York for summer classes, finished summer classes, and spent way too much money on drinks and food. That is basically the summary of my summer (my "summery" if you will, ah-ha) dotted with a few affairs and some minor heartbreak. No big deal, though.

Here I am, however, with three more weeks until the beginning of my senior year in college. I am single, unemployed, saturated with processed fat thanks to the lack of proper dining facilities at school, and regularly going to the gym to remedy this fact. So I decided it's time that I finally finished this verkackte post that was meant to be published back in March.

As you may recall, so many moons ago, I visited my best friend/gay ex-husband Fletcher in Wisconsin, and we cooked and consumed a lot of food together. This was the last meal we cooked and consumed while I was there, along with the help of his friends Rana, Mayumi, and Keiko. I mentioned Butcher Block in my last post, and above is a photo of the smorgasbord we put together with some prosciutto and locally made gouda that we had purchased from there. It was delicious.

Looking at that picture now, having just had dinner, I find myself ravenous. But let's be honest, I'm always hungry, and even if I'm not hungry I can always go for some cured meats and cheese. And ice cream. I can always go for ice cream.

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[Seared Duck Breast and Thighs with Mushroom Risotto]
(Serves 4-5)

Ingredients
Seared Duck
• 2 duck breasts
• 2 duck thighs
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 2 cloves of star anise
• Salt & pepper

Mushroom Risotto
• 1 cup of arborio rice
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter or rendered duck fat
• 1 shallot, or 1/2 small yellow onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of white wine (ex: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay)
• 6 cups of duck or chicken stock, heated
• 1/2 lb. mushrooms, cut into bite-sized morsels
    - Try to use something with more flavor, like shiitake or portobello, instead of button
• 1 sprig of thyme
• Salt & pepper

Start first by scoring the skin on the breasts and the thighs. You can either just do long diagonal cuts as above or diamonds or simple horizontal lines. Be careful not to cut the meat, just to score through the fat so that the meat is exposed. If you don't do this step then the fat won't render out of the skin and it will not become crispy. Trust me, you want the skin to be crispy.

Salt and pepper the breasts and thighs generously on both sides and let stand.

Now we work on the risotto.

Here Fletch and I used the glorious duck fat that was rendered out in our previous duck tales. If you don't have duck fat, feel free to use olive oil or something equally less-delicious than duck fat. Heat up 2 Tablespoons of duck fat in a crock pot, and throw in the shallots (or onions, if you're using those) and garlic. Sauté the aromatics until slightly browned and then toss in the mushrooms that you have so carefully cut into beautiful bite-sized pieces.

Resist temptation to snack on raw mushrooms. Fail miserably and snack on a few.

Once what's survived of your mushrooms are nice and softened and has begun to release its juices, throw in the arborio rice and stir everything to make sure it's all coated with the beautiful duck fat and aromatics oil. Throw in your cup of white wine. 

At this point, you should have a small stock pot on an adjacent burner heating up your duck (or chicken) stock. Keep the heat on low for both pots. Spoon enough stock to cover the rice, and stir, letting it simmer down. Once the rice absorbs the stock, spoon more stock over the whole thing, and repeat. This whole process will take about half an hour, and you don't need to be super diligent about tending to the risotto, but it might stick to the pot, so just stir it every once in a while. 

You can choose to work on the thighs and breasts separately from the risotto if you're nervous, but I just threw the protein on as I was waiting for the risotto to cook down. Heat up just a smidgen of duck fat (or other oils) in a pan and lay the thighs or breasts in, skin side down.

Sear the skin side at high heat for about 12 minutes, then flip onto the other side and add a clove of star anise and a sprig of thyme. Leave for another 5 minutes. At this point I would recommend throwing the whole pan into the oven for about 10 more minutes to finish it off if you're uncomfortable with eating duck too rare, but I usually just finish it up on stove top just in case the meat is overdone.

I prefer my meat as rare as healthily possible. This is actually a weird thing that my friend Kate and I share: we adore the sight of raw meat. (Ha. Ha. Get your jokes in) Nothing makes me more ravenous than the sight of a bloody slab of steak or raw ground beef. I also really enjoy beef carpaccio and sashimi. Unf.

All while this was going on, I was simultaneously working on the risotto - pouring in the duck stock and folding the liquids into the starch and slowly simmering.

I actually have mild panic attacks every time I cook risotto because at some point, at least every time I have cooked risotto, the rice will begin to stick to the sides of the pot. I start panicking about burning the rice all while getting increasingly frustrated over the fact that the grains have not been cooked through. It's quite stressful. Actually, cooking for other people is pretty stressful in general.

WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF!?

Remove the first batch of duck and set aside to cool and for the juices to redistribute. You always want to rest your meat. Ha. Ha ha.

Repeat the same process with the second batch of duck, which - in my case - was the breasts. Make sure you get a good sear on that skin side down. A LOT of fat will be released, and the oil will probably spurt and burn you and stain your clothes. So wear an apron. Or at least a long sleeved shirt you don't care about.

Flip the duck over once the skin is crispy and golden - roughly 12 minutes just like the last time - and add the thyme and star anise. Remove from the heat once it's done and let it rest just like the thighs have. Slice breast at a diagonal to serve, and try to cut as much meat off the thighs as you can without mangling it too much.

Also resist eating all the morsels.

Once the risotto is done, finish with freshly grated parmesan over the top, and maybe just a squeeze of lemon for a hit of freshness.

Et voilà! Well that only took me FOREVER.

Anyways - I have plenty of restaurant experience posts lined up for all the excellent eating I've been doing around the city, and I promise I will do those with a little more efficiency.

Till the next time!

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Printable Version

Ingredients

Seared Duck

• 2 duck breasts

• 2 duck thighs

• 2 sprigs of thyme

• 2 cloves of star anise

• Salt & pepper

Mushroom Risotto

• 1 cup of arborio rice

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter or rendered duck fat

• 1 shallot, or 1/2 small yellow onion, finely diced

• 2 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 cup of white wine (ex: Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay)

• 6 cups of duck or chicken stock, heated

• 1/2 lb. mushrooms, cut into bite-sized morsels

    - Try to use something with more flavor, like shiitake or portobello, instead of button

• 1 sprig of thyme

• Salt & pepper

1. Score the skin of the breast and thighs with long cuts. Be careful not to cut the meat.

2. Salt and pepper both sides and let stand.
3. Heat up duck fat on medium-high heat in a crock pot and sauté shallots/onions and garlic until soft. Heat stock in separate pot.

4. Add mushrooms and sauté until liquids are released.

5. Throw in arborio rice, coat in liquids, and pour in cup of white wine.

6. Slowly add in stock and fold into the rice until absorbed. Repeat process until stock is gone, roughly 20 minutes.

7. Sear thighs or breasts skin side down for about 12 minutes and flip over.

8. Once flipped, add thyme and star anise and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from pan and let rest. Repeat process with second batch of meat.

9. Finish risotto by grating parmesan, mixing in, and plating.

10. Slice duck at diagonal and arrange on top.