Pan-Roasted Duck Breast With Orange And Ouzo

Ingrédients

2 pounds goose or duck breasts

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon duck fat, unsalted butter, or olive oil

½ cup finely chopped fennel (bulb only)

1 shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons)

1 small hot fresh chile (such as Thai or serrano), halved lengthwise

½ cup ouzo or other anise-flavored liqueur

1 cup goose or duck stock (page 222) or chicken stock

Juice of 1 orange (about ½ cup)

Mashed potatoes or celery root or cooked polenta,

for serving

Small bunch of fennel fronds, for garnish

Instructions

Remove the goose breasts from the refrigerator, salt well, and set aside at room temperature for 20 to 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Pat the breasts dry with paper towels. If you are working with a domesticated goose or a very fat duck, use a sharp knife to score the skin (but not the meat) in a crosshatch pattern, making the slashes about 1 inch across. This helps the fat render and will give you a crispier skin. Do not score the skin of a wild goose unless it is very fatty.

Set the breasts, skin side down, in a cold ovenproof sauté pan with the duck fat and place on the stove top. Turn on the heat to high and let the sizzling rise to a comfortable level, the way it sounds when you cook bacon. Turn the heat down to medium-low, or even low, and let the breasts cook for 10 to 12 minutes at a gentle sizzle, until the skin has browned a bit.

Move the pan into the hot oven. Do not flip the meat.

After 5 minutes, check for doneness using the finger test (see page 61). A very large domestic or Canada goose breast might take as long as 15 minutes to get warm at its center. If you prefer to use a thermometer, you will want it to read 125°F, which will yield rare meat after the breast rests a bit. Because the breast is larger, the carryover heat will increase the internal temperature more than for a typical duck breast.

When the meat is at the target temperature (remember, it will gain 5 to 10 degrees during the resting period), transfer the breasts, skin side up, to a cutting board and tent loosely with aluminum foil. Let rest a full 10 minutes before carving.

To make the sauce, put the shallot, chile and chopped fennel in the pan and saute for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often. Do not let the veggies brown. Take the pan off the heat and add the ouzo. It may flame up, so be careful. Scrape any brown bits off the bottom of the pan and let the ouzo cook down by half. Add the duck stock and orange juice and a little salt and boil this furiously until a spoon passed through the sauce leaves a trail. Turn off the heat and, if you want, strain the sauce through a fine-meshed sieve to remove the solids.

Slice goose breast on the diagonal. To serve, pour a little sauce on the plate and arrange goose slices skin side up on them. Garnish with some fennel fronds and ground pepper.

Notes

This is another combination of duck and citrus, only with a Greek twist: ouzo, an anise-flavored liqueur. Ouzo is available at most liquor stores, and you can substitute any similar liquor, such as Pernod, pastis, raki, tsipouro, sambuca, anisette, and so on. If you don't drink alcohol, double the amount of chopped fennel and add some fennel seeds or aniseeds.

I designed this recipe for specklebelly geese, which run five to seven pounds and are often pretty fatty. They are very similar to a Rouen or Moulard duck, the breasts of which can be used in place of the goose breasts here. Domesticated and Canada geese will work here, too. You can use smaller duck breasts to make this dish, too. Just follow the directions for pan-seared duck breasts on page 58.

I prefer to serve this dish with something simple that will sop up the sauce, such as mashed potatoes or celery root or a mound of polenta. Serve with a light red wine or a rich white, such as an oaky Chardonnay or a Viognier.