Pan Seared Duck Breast

This is an impressive, yet simple meal. The difficult part is finding duck breast at the store. 

Ingredients you'll need for 2 servings

One duck breast (about a pound or 400gr)
One large white potato
Meat thermometer, if you have one

Firstly, remove the duck breast from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature for an hour or so before cooking. 

Before cooking, score the skin side of the breast with diagonal slices through the fat, but not into the meat. Sprinkle with a little salt and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, cut your potato into 1/4 inch (6mm) cubes. Since they'll have to wait a bit before frying, I put them in a container and cover with cool water. 

Cooking the duck breast, start with a cold pan. Use a heavy weight frying pan. Place duck skin side down into the cold pan, raising the temperature to medium. You want to have it sizzling, but not spitting. As it cooks, the skin fat will render into a wonderful oil that you'll fry the potatoes in later. Fry for about 10 minutes or so, until the skin is a beautiful brown and crispy. 

Once the skin side of the duck breast is crispy, drain the potatoes. 
Flip the duck breast over to the meaty side and pour the drained potato cubes around in the hot oil. Sprinkle the potatoes with some salt and pepper. Stir the potatoes a bit as they cook. 

Fry 8 -10 minutes or so until the internal temperature reaches 130F (55C). 

Remove duck breast to a plate, cover with foil and allow to rest. 

Continue frying the potatoes in the hot oil. 5 minutes or so should do it.

When the potatoes are done, thinly slice the duck breast against the diagonal scores you cut before cooking. Meat should be dark pink inside. Duck breast is best served medium rare. 

Serve with potatoes. 

Now, let's get cooking...

 One duck breast, allowed to warm to room temperature.

Score the top of the fat, careful not to cut into the meat.  

 Sprinkle with a little salt and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut up the potatoes. 1/2 inch (6mm) cubes so they cook relatively quickly.  

Place duck breast, skin side down, into a cold frying pan. Use a heavy bottomed pan. 

At medium heat, you can see the fat rendering from the fatty layer under the skin. The pan should be hot enough to make it sizzle, but not too hot to make it spit all over.  

 Fry skin side down for about 10 minutes, until the skin is 

a deep golden brown, but not burnt.  

 When you flip the duck breast over, add the potatoes to the pan. If you had your potato cubes resting in water to keep them fresh, make sure you drain them well. I put a folded paper towel under the potatoes to let them dry a tad before adding them to the hot oil. No drops of water should be poured into the hot oil. Sprinkle the potatoes with a little salt and pepper now, if you'd like. Feel free to toss and turn the potatoes as the duck breast continues to cook for about another 10 minutes.

 If you have an instant read thermometer, or this nifty one I love from Pampered Chef, this is the time to use it. You don't want to overcook the duck. Duck breast is best served medium rare. It jumped from 129 to 131F (55C) and I took it right out. If you do not have a thermometer, strictly stick to the timing. If it takes 10 minutes to brown the skin side, then 10 minutes on the other side, no more. 

Set the duck aside to rest, covered in foil. The internal temperature will continue to rise. 

This is normal.  

Once the duck has been removed from the pan, allow the potatoes to continue to cook, turning frequently to get them nice and crispy brown. 

I also roasted some nice brussel sprouts I had cleaned and froze when they were abundant at the store.  I toss them with some olive oil, sprinkle with pepper and roast at about 375 - 400F (190 -205C) for 30 minutes, until they start to brown nicely. 

 When the potatoes are nearly completion, slice the duck breast into thin slices, 

diagonally across the scores made in the skin. 

Dinner is served! I also added a fresh green salad and some fresh crusty bread. 

A very impressive yet simple dish even your guests will enjoy! 

Delicious Creamy Potato Soup

Delicious Creamy Potato Soup

As always, gather your ingredients. This is a fairly simple soup. You will need a handful of potatoes, I suggest white potatoes, not red skinned potatoes. Red potatoes are waxy rather than starchy. Also, carrots, a nice onion, celery, butter, condensed milk and instant mashed potatoes. 

Peel and cut your potatoes. 

Put potatoes chunks, cut up carrots, celery, and onion into your stock pot and add at least double the amount of water you need to cover the vegetables. This is a very forgiving recipe. More water equals more soup. :) 

So, living in France has presented challenges. Like figuring out basic food items. Some are more obvious than others. I'm learning every day! And, no, I don't speak French. I am taking lessons, so I am learning. Salt and pepper here. 

So, with soup pot coming to a boil, lower the heat.

Cover and allow to simmer for 45 minutes or so, until the potatoes are soft. 

Once the potatoes are soft, use your potato masher and smash the potatoes up a bit. The point is not to have them be completely mashed, just to bring the pieces down smaller and to spread them around in the broth. 

I love this soup without meat, but my husband prefers meat in his soups. So, I added two small smoked sausages. Good additions to this soup are also ham and cooked bacon. Don't feel you need to add meat, you certainly don't. If you do add meat, allow the soup to simmer another 10-15 minutes to incorporate the smokiness from the meat into the broth. 

When everything is cooked and soft, add a pat or two of butter. 

Add one whole can of evaporated milk
(For goodness sake, make sure it's not sweetened condensed milk!!)

With temperature on low, stir everything up and allow new ingredients to come up to temperature. Stir frequently to make sure nothing scorches to the bottom of the pot. 

To thicken up the broth, sprinkle in instant mashed potato flakes. Add a little at a time. Stirring and incorporating as you go. You just want to thicken the soup, not turn it into a thick oatmeal consistency. When it is the consistency you prefer, it's pretty much done!

One last taste, add salt and pepper to taste and soup is served!

Doesn't that look delicious!? 

Sitting in the sunshine, out on the balcony. This really hits the spot! Enjoy!