Pan Friend Duck Breast and Gnocchi

I cooked duck breast last night for the first time and it blew me away. What amazing flavour! I had tried duck before while living in Beijing (Peking Duck) but found it pretty oily. As long as you score the skin to let the fat out, it isn't too fatty at all. In fact, it almost tasted closer to beef than poultry. I also used the left overs to stir fry some hand made gnocchi. My gnocchi was a little big but still tasted very good. I would definitely make this again!

Here's the recipe:

Yum Factor: 8.5/10

Difficulty Factor: 7/10 (the hand made Gnocchi was pretty difficult)

Duck rubbing mixture:
2 Muscovy duck breasts
2 tablespoons of dried thyme
4 tablespoons of grainy mustard
1 tablespoon of soya sauce

The gnocchi:
2 cups of frozen gnocchi
1/2 cup of frozen peas
10 sage leaves, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons of butter
salt and pepper

Duck rubbing mixture:
Place all ingredients into a re-sealable plastic bag, seal it and mix well, rubbing mixture all over the duck breasts. Put into refrigerator for 30 minutes.





The duck:

Remove duck breasts from plastic bag and with a sharp knife score the fat at 1-inch wide intervals. Turn the breasts on a 90-degree angle and score again to form a criss-cross pattern. This will help to prevent shrinkage during cooking.

Place a skillet over medium-high heat and when very hot begin to sear the duck breasts, skin side down. Cook for 10 minutes and then turn and cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Duck breasts should be medium-rare. Allow to rest for 15 minutes so the juices may be reabsorbed.

The gnocchi:

Put a large pot of water on to boil.

Salt the boiling water and add the gnocchi. When it begins to float it is done, about 3 to 5 minutes. Drain in a colander.

Heat a large sauté pan and melt the butter. Add the cooked gnocchi and the peas and sauté for about 3 minutes. Stir in the sage and season with salt and pepper.

To serve, slice the duck breasts thinly. Place a large spoonful of gnocchi in a bowl and arrange slices of duck around it.

Changes for next time: Smaller gnocchi and make sure to use old potatoes next time. Also, remember to start cooking the duck SKIN SIDE down (I forgot at first).