Sous Vide Duck Breast with Orange-Honey Pan Sauce and Root Vegetable Gratin Recipe

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Sous Vide Duck Breast with Orange-Honey Pan Sauce and Root Vegetable Gratin Recipe

For the majority of my adult years, preparing duck was always something that intimidated me – and I don’t shy away from much in the food world. I think, perhaps, I had just never had “good” duck. In most cases when ordering out, it always arrived undercooked or overcooked – and no one wants either of those things; therefore, I became turned off by it.

I remained negative towards duck until I discovered two preparation successes: confit duck and sous vide duck – both yielded perfectly prepared duck that, quite frankly, blew my mind. The method I opted for for this recipe: the sous vide route. It’s a full-proof, sure-fire cooking method that has the ability to cook most any kind of meat to an idyllic state, especially duck. If you are familiar with sous vide cooking, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Sous Vide (which translates to “under vacuum” in French) is a cooking method which uses precise temperature control to cook something to an exact temperature. In essence, you vacuum seal your food of choice in a bag and cook it in a water bath to a precise temperature, leaving your food cooked to your expected liking every single time.

Sliced sous vide duck breast with orange sauce
Sliced sous vide duck breast with orange sauce

Sourcing duck isn’t as easy as it is to source many other meats, like pork, chicken and beef.  However, leave it to Rollin’ Oats Natural Food Market to make shopping for this recipe a cinch, because they have every ingredient for this recipe, including the duck! At the St. Pete location, just to the left of the dairy/eggs and at the beginning of the freezer section, you’ll find duck breast, along with other interesting meats! It was a fabulous discovery, as I have a hard time finding duck on a regular basis in St. Pete.

Ingredients from Rollin' Oats
Ingredients from Rollin’ Oats

The Root Vegetable Gratin is solid accompaniment to the duck, and, also any easy dish to throw together with the holidays in a few weeks! It’s full of cheese and comfort and who doesn’t want that this time of year? Feel free to use any mixture of root vegetables that are available to you for this dish!

Root Vegetable Gratin after hitting the oven
Root Vegetable Gratin after hitting the oven

Wine Pairing From Ken Smith:
Decoy 2018 Pinot Noir, California

“A lively wine, graced with raspberry and black cherry components, that’s also accompanied by balanced acidity. It’s medium body marries beautifully with this dish. Just look for the mallard on the label.”

How to Make Duck Breast with Orange Sauce

Sliced sous vide duck breast with orange sauce

Sous Vide Duck Breast with Orange-Honey Pan Sauce and Root Vegetable Gratin

Abby Allen
If you don't own a sous vide, it's okay! I've included alternative instructions for preparing the duck.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 2 people
Calories 619 kcal

Ingredients
  

Root Vegetable Gratin

  • 6 Root Vegetables Use any combination of potatoes, parsnip, beets, etc., as you like! Peeled and sliced thin (about 4-5mm).
  • 1 Cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
  • 1/2 Cup Grated Fontina Cheese Or other cheese that melts well, like cheddar or gruyere.
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Tbsp Salt Plus more, as needed.
  • 1/2 Bunch Fresh Thyme

Instructions
 

Sous Vide Duck & Orange Pan Sauce

  • Preheat your sous vide water bath to 135F.
    Preheating the Anova
  • Season liberally with salt. Place duck into bag and vacuum seal, or, into zip lock bag to use the water immersion method to seal the bag.
    Vacuum sealing the duck
  • When the water is heated, drop your sealed duck breast into the water and cook for two hours. While the duck breast cooks, prepare the gratin.
  • When the timer goes off after two hours, remove the sealed duck breast from the water bath, discard bag and any accumulated liquid.
  • Place duck on a cutting board skin side up, and evenly score the skin (be careful to only cut through the skin). Salt the scored side well. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 Tbsp butter. After the pan is hot and butter is melted, add the duck to the pan scored skin side down and cook until a golden, crisp skin forms, 2-3 minutes. Salt the other side of the duck
  • Flip duck breast and cook on the other side for 1 minute. Remove from pan, turn off heat and allow to rest while we make the orange sauce.
    Sous vide duck after a nice sear
  • To the pan that we cooked the duck in, add white wine to deglaze for 2 minutes (your pan will still likely be quite hot, but if it isn't, go ahead and place the pan over low heat during this process). Then, add in juice from orange halves (do not discard yet!), honey, red wine vinegar and 1/2 tsp salt, plus more to taste. Allow sauce to gently mingle and thicken for 2-3 minutes until it coats the back of a spoon. Carefully add to a small bowl and set aside until ready to serve.
  • Slice duck breast(s) against the grain. Add slices to plates, drizzle with pan sauce and add zest from used orange halves on top.
    Sliced sous vide duck breast with orange sauce

Alternative Duck Cooking Instructions

  • Dry duck breast well, place on a cutting board skin side-up, and evenly score the skin (be careful to only cut through the skin).
  • Season duck liberally with salt and pepper. Place duck breast skin side in a dry and cold pan and heat the pan to medium. This is so the duck fat renders slowly and evenly. Cook skin side down for approximately 12-14 minutes. Carefully flip the duck and cook for another 2 or so minutes. Allow to rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving.
    Duck breast and Root Vegetable Gratin

Root Vegetable Gratin

  • Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly grease a cast iron skillet or baking dish with butter (just until coated - we will be using the rest later!). Add 1/4 cup of heavy cream to skillet/baking dish and evenly disperse. Add all sliced root vegetables of choice to a large bowl and add remaining heavy cream, 1 tbsp salt and 1/2 of grated parmesan. Mix well and then arranged coated vegetables slices in a pan to your liking. Personally, I like the stacked domino look! Top with remaining grated parmesan, thyme sprigs and cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
    Gratin before the oven
  • Remove from oven, discard foil and even top with grated Fontina cheese. Place back into the oven to cook for an additional 20 minutes. Turn the oven to broil, broil gratin for 1-2 minutes, remove from oven and serve along side duck.
    Root Vegetable Gratin
Nutrition Facts
Sous Vide Duck Breast with Orange-Honey Pan Sauce and Root Vegetable Gratin
Amount Per Serving (450 g)
Calories 619 Calories from Fat 333
% Daily Value*
Fat 37g57%
Saturated Fat 10g63%
Cholesterol 186mg62%
Sodium 885mg38%
Potassium 501mg14%
Carbohydrates 46g15%
Fiber 10g42%
Sugar 40g44%
Protein 30g60%
Vitamin A 2474IU49%
Vitamin C 25mg30%
Calcium 262mg26%
Iron 8mg44%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition

Serving: 450gCalories: 619kcalCarbohydrates: 46gProtein: 30gFat: 37gSaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 186mgSodium: 885mgPotassium: 501mgFiber: 10gSugar: 40gVitamin A: 2474IUVitamin C: 25mgCalcium: 262mgIron: 8mg
Keyword Abby Allen Recipes, Duck Breast Recipe, Gratin Recipe, Holiday Recipes, Rollin Oats, Rollin Oats Cafe St Petersburg FL, Rollin Oats Recipes, Rollin' Oats Natural Food Market, Rollin' Oats St Petersburg, Sous Vide Duck, Sous Vide Duck Breast, Sous Vide Duck Breast With Orange Honey Pan Sauce and Root Vegetable Gratin, St Pete Foodies Recipes, St Petersburg Foodies Recipes, Vegetable Gratin Recipe
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