Pan Seared Pekin Duck With Black Currant Sauce & Roasted Baby Potato’s

[civilsmoker]

We wanted to kick off the New Year with a meal to celebrate the event!

We ordered some Pekin duck breasts for the occasion…. They were frozen so thawed them in the fridge for 3 days, then washed dried and back in the fridge to set the skin. After 36 hours in the fridge I 1/2inch scored the skin and let the come up to room temp…ie 90 min on the counter before the cook…..

The skin feels like a short dry velvet…. Just a cool feeling on the fingers!!!!

So Pekin duck is a much different cook than your standard mallard… ie they have thicker fat layer so they need to be cooked low and slow……you put them in a cold pan and then mid low heat…..

This is a crazy cook because you will simmer sear them for 20 min… but the fat layer insulates them so they don’t cook…..

This is after 15 mins and I even drained off some rendered fat because it was too much….

The removed rendered gold….

Let them to continue to sear/render another 7 min…..ie 22 min in total…. The last min I turned it up to mid temp then flipped them….

I tipped the pan and rolled the flesh side in the hot duck fat to sear it….about two mins then moved to a racked sheet pan to rest!

A quick shot of the baby spuds that Mrs C made up….. she makes magic!

I didn’t get too many pics of the process as I was focused on the duck….. but here is the party plate!!

The side salad is Mrs Cs balsamic apple salad…… this is off the chart good!

The duck was dressed in a velvety smooth black currant sauce and finished with some French gray salt and fresh chopped herbs!

Just money!!! Pekin is a happy marriage of a Chicharrón and a filet… I hope the rest of the year is this good!!!!

Happy New Year Y’all!!!

 

[JLinza]

Wow Civil. That looks absolutely great. Great write up too.

 

[912smoker]

Not a duck fan but you just changed my mind ! WOW

Keith

 

[DRKsmoking]

Looks great , and nice how you did.

I have never cook any kind of duck. Thanks for showing

Great pictures.

David

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Great dish and great write up!!

 

[civilsmoker]

Wow Civil. That looks absolutely great. Great write up too.

Many thanks JL!

Not a duck fan but you just changed my mind ! WOW

Keith

Thanks Kieth! There is a lot of not so good duck out there but done right it is very tasty! The Pekin flavor profile is very mild. The secret is to not over cook it or it will turn over to a liver/giblet flavor tone. At mid rare it’s like a beef filet…

 

[civilsmoker]

Looks great , and nice how you did.

I have never cook any kind of duck. Thanks for showing

Great pictures.

David

Thanks David! Variety is the spice of life. If you do try it I personally believe the Pekin is the best tasting!

Great dish and great write up!!

Much appreciated GS!

 

[civilsmoker]

Well we had one seared breast left over so I made it my lunch..... I did a 45s sear on very high heat to re-crisp the fat cap (the center was still chilled) and then it went over Mrs Cs apple salad.

This is the money shot and holy crap, I believe this is my new FAVORITE salad of all time!

My only wish.......I wish I could get these sourced local at a reasonable price!

 

[912smoker]

Thanks Kieth! There is a lot of not so good duck out there but done right it is very tasty! The Pekin flavor profile is very mild. The secret is to not over cook it or it will turn over to a liver/giblet flavor tone. At mid rare it’s like a beef filet…

That's definitely been my experience.
Love duck and rice! Cook the rice till done then throw out the duck .
Now I will use your method!

Keith

 

[schlotz]

Ooo... that looks so good. Great meal(s) without question Civil!
Now I got to go out and find some duck!

 

[sawhorseray]

HIT IT OUT OF THE PARK WITH A GREAT WRITE-UP NICE WORK CIVIL!

 

[indaswamp]

I viewed this thread earlier, thought I responded. Anyways- awesome plate there civil! my kind of meal for sure!

 

[Winterrider]

That is beautiful and great way to ring in the New Year !

 

[civilsmoker]

That's definitely been my experience.
Love duck and rice! Cook the rice till done then throw out the duck .
Now I will use your method!

Keith

LOL, thats the old liver, bacon and onions thing......toss the liver and eat the bacon..... Although I had an elk (from my old 6x6 bull) liver that after cooking it not even the bacon was good....LOL.

PS I'm NOT a fan of badly cook duck either!

Ooo... that looks so good. Great meal(s) without question Civil!
Now I got to go out and find some duck!

Thanks schlotz, and yea I'm gonna be on the hunt for some way to get it local, I'm gonna what that salad more than just once!

 

[civilsmoker]

HIT IT OUT OF THE PARK WITH A GREAT WRITE-UP NICE WORK CIVIL!

Many thanks RAY!

I viewed this thread earlier, thought I responded. Anyways- awesome plate there civil! my kind of meal for sure!

I thought this might be up your alley.... I could eat the salad every week and it wouldn't get old!

That is beautiful and great way to ring in the New Year !

Thanks Winter! Yea we wanted to start the year off right!

 

[luvcatchingbass]

You hit that out of the park so far you probably damaged a car window or landed in someone's pool! Thanks for sharing and reminding me that I need to do duck for the family again, our youngest daughter loves duck.
I have only made store bought duck for them as I don't get into duck hunting much anymore, that needs to change in 2026 so I can post up some in the Hunting Fishing Thread.

 

[Jim_C]

A gorgeous looking meal!

We love seared duck breasts. We also go with the low-and-slow method to let the fat render. We usually go with Muscovy duck breasts. A little pricier, but very meaty. Our sauce is usually a warmed apricot marmalade with some lemon squeezed in, and a dash of black pepper.

Since this is a smoking forum you have me thinking about how I can add some smoke, render the fat, and not have dry, overcooked, duck breasts. Perhaps let the duck breasts dry in the fridge, as you did, cold smoke with a pellet tube for a couple of hours, then do the low-and-slow sear.

 

[schlotz]

The Black Currant sauce looks very inviting. How did you put it together? Funny thing, your post got me hankering for duck and I been spending way to much time trying to locate some but sheesh, price plus shipping is crazy. Then out of the blue I thought, wonder if my local butcher carries it. Sure enough, Maple Farms White Pekin. I'm heading there tomorrow . Thanks again for the inspiration Cortney!

 

[civilsmoker]

You hit that out of the park so far you probably damaged a car window or landed in someone's pool! Thanks for sharing and reminding me that I need to do duck for the family again, our youngest daughter loves duck.
I have only made store bought duck for them as I don't get into duck hunting much anymore, that needs to change in 2026 so I can post up some in the Hunting Fishing Thread.

lol thanks lcb! I hunted lots of duck as a kid but most them went to the smoke house or braised…. The pan seared mid rare wasn’t a thing….

A gorgeous looking meal!

We love seared duck breasts. We also go with the low-and-slow method to let the fat render. We usually go with Muscovy duck breasts. A little pricier, but very meaty. Our sauce is usually a warmed apricot marmalade with some lemon squeezed in, and a dash of black pepper.

Since this is a smoking forum you have me thinking about how I can add some smoke, render the fat, and not have dry, overcooked, duck breasts. Perhaps let the duck breasts dry in the fridge, as you did, cold smoke with a pellet tube for a couple of hours, then do the low-and-slow sear.

Yea the Muscovy is the real deal too. I learned the low and slow from Geoffrey Zakarian (Michelin Star, Iron Chef, chopped) he specifically calls out that the Pekin needs 18 to 20 mins of low and slow at a min to be done right. Many recipes call for 8-9 mins.

You can do the rendering in the pan and finish them on the grill to get a nice smoky tone to them, the other would be cold smoking or a kitchen smoke gun (as you note above), both would work.

 

[civilsmoker]

The Black Currant sauce looks very inviting. How did you put it together? Funny thing, your post got me hankering for duck and I been spending way to much time trying to locate some but sheesh, price plus shipping is crazy. Then out of the blue I thought, wonder if my local butcher carries it. Sure enough, Maple Farms White Pekin. I'm heading there tomorrow . Thanks again for the inspiration Cortney!

You are welcome and I’ll corner Mr C for the recipe, I know it’s a little of this and a little of that….lol. She did order some imported preserves as the base and it took about 2 hours and she screen strained it to make it silky.

Oh and yes was going to suggest Maple Leaf Farms. The only thing they do is Pekin, mostly from Amish farms. They also supply most of the high end restaurants across the country. Ie they supply Sysco supply so they are the real deal. Ps once the budget recovers I’m going to order a box of 24….that makes it 8 bills each so that will keep us full for some time!