Duck breast recipe
 

I don't think I've posted this recipe here before. It is quite good.

Duck Breasts with Bourbon Cream Sauce

2 whole duck breasts (breast from two mallard ducks, 4 halves)
2 TB butter
4 TB olive oil
1/2 cup minced red onion
6 minced cloves of garlic
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup bourbon whiskey
2 TB brown sugar

Combine the beef broth and bourbon. Boil down to reduce in volume to about 1/3 cup. Cover and set aside.

Salt and pepper both sides of the duck breasts. Sautee over medium high heat until done -- about 4 minutes per side, maybe a bit longer. I like them to be a little pink on the inside when I take them off. I remove them to a warm plate and keep them in a warm place while finishing the sauce.

In the left over butter and oil, sautee the minced red onion and garlic for about 30 seconds to a minute. Add the reduced beef broth and bourbon. Add the brown sugar. Stir well to combine ingredients. Add the heavy cream and bring to the boil. Continue boiling while stirring about 5 minutes or until the sauce reaches the thickness that you prefer. Serve this sauce in a separate bowl with the duck breasts.

Any duck breast will do, but you'll need to adjust the timing accordingly. I made this two evenings ago with a hen mallard breast, two gadwall breasts, and a teal breast, so you can imagine there was quite a range of the sizes. Everything worked out fine, notwithstanding.

I like to serve a mixture of wild rice and white rice with duck. 1/2 cup wild rice cooked up in beef broth or venison broth and 1 cup white rice cooked in chicken broth. For extra flavor, I mince about 1/3 cup yellow onion and sautee this in 3 TB of butter. I add the white rice and sautee stirring for about a minute. I cook the wild rice at a steady moderate boil for about 40 minutes. I add in the wild rice and the extra liquid from the wild rice (not too much extra) to the white rice. Add a pint of chicken broth to the mixture. Bring to the boil. Cover. Reduce temperature and cook 20 minutes. This is a good accompaniment to duck. Some applesauce on the side is good too.

I like to serve a Spanish red wine such as a mature bottle of Rioja riserva with the duck.