French Fridays with Dorie: Twenty-minute honey-glazed duck breasts

This week’s French Fridays with Dorie dish – 20 minute honey glazed duck breasts – really proved that you don’t need a whole lot of time or fancy ingredients to create a gourmet meal.  I mean, who ever heard of duck breast ready to eat in 20 minutes?

To tell you the truth, though, it nearly did not happen.  Neil and I had a busy weekend last weekend and ended up in the kitchen for hours on end working on various blog post dishes (including a bit of a Charcutepalooza marathon – making saucisson sec and noix de jambons for the upcoming challenge.  Indeed, each time the Bell telephone technician (long story…) came upstairs to report on his “progress” over the nearly 4 hours he was there, there was a different type of meat on the kitchen table – legs of pork being deboned, pork being ground then stuffed into hog casings, and then, finally, a whole duck being carved up so that I could make this dish (and we roasted the rest). I swear the poor technician must have thought we were some kind of underground butcher…

Anyway, I digress. I don’t much like duck (though I ate the duck prosciutto in some pasta sauce) – possibly because I had a pet duck when I was younger but mostly because I find it too rich. I nearly skipped this but for the fact that we happened to have a whole duck in the freezer that needed to leave there to make room for more meat products I acquired at the Canada Beef “meating” the day before. Yeah, it was a meaty weekend.

But Neil loves duck. And I figured I might as well try this, Dorie’s fail-safe way to get a fancy meal on the table in under 30 minutes. True to the recipe, it took less than 30 minutes – the potatoes took longer to prepare. And the duck was cooked to pink perfection. Which you can’t see in these pictures because in the time it took me to plate the potatoes and take the plate outside for its photoshoot, the duck had gone kinda grey. Sorry.  Neil will tell you it was delicious. I was proud I cooked the duck all by myself and didn’t over do it (as one who does not eat duck is wont to do…)

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44 thoughts on “French Fridays with Dorie: Twenty-minute honey-glazed duck breasts”

  1. Wow, sounds like quite a weekend. Happy to hear that you were able to squeeze this week’s recipe in. Duck happens to be one of my husband’s favorites as well so it sounds like we had some happy men this week. Those potatoes look delicious as well, did you fry or roast them?

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  2. I can’t even imagine what your kitchen must have looked like 🙂 I love those kinds of weekends.
    Those potatoes look pretty darn tasty. (and the duck too…)

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  3. I had far too much work and things to do this weekend, but I must say there is something (disturbingly) calming about butchering away, music in the background…

    This duck was perfectly cooked – I think my facial expression showed Mardi how shocked I was she pulled it off! 😉

    Oddly, a touch more seasoning would have helped. They honey was lost with the robust flavour of the duck. But delicious nonetheless, and it’s nice to know I can now expect more duck in the house. Just not Jemima. 🙂

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  4. Sad I didn’t have time for this. Good for you for making it even though it’s not your favorite thing! I want to try it this week or next with some tweaks in flavor but not technique – I haven’t worked with duck though I will happily eat it!

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  5. Ummm…can I come live with you? Your kitchen sounds like my own personal meaty heaven. I love that you just happened to have a duck in your freezer. My supermarket better follow through on their promise to have some in two weeks. I must make this recipe pronto! Good for you for trying it, even though you’re not a huge fan.

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  6. I don’t like duck all that much either, but this looks really good Mardi…ps I cannot wait to see what you cook up for the charcutepalooza final challenge!!!!

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  7. I can just imagine a cinematic scene of the Bell technician seeing a different kind of meat in your kitchen every time he came up! What a funny picture you painted. Sounds like you enjoyed a very productive weekend and glad the duck breast turned out well.

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  8. Your duck looks tasty, even if a bit on the grey side! … Maybe the tech wanted some of your meat! LOL! Well, glad you liked it too, I have an aversion to the taste of the duck meat which keeps me from eating it unless I have to.

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  9. Your kitchen sounds pretty well-stocked! Glad you & Neil enjoyed this dish – I thought it was quite delish! Your potatoes look darling – did you cook them with a little of the duck fat? LOL at your photo story, my spouse complains they take too long then I rush and wonder why they don’t look like a professionals!
    Happy French Friday!

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  10. Yeah, I’ve got a spare pheasant in my freezer. Is there a recipe for 30 minute pheasant breast? I love duck (what does “too rich” mean, anyway?) and yours looks juicy and delicious.

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  11. I love marathon cooking sessions. All that charcuterie sounds amazing. I enjoyed the duck along with my husband, though we’re both fans. Your potatoes look really good too. Are those the broth-braised potatoes that Dorie recommended?

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  12. I get in a meat rut sometimes where I’m cooking the same kinds of meat every week. I never thought of duck being quick to make! So, I’ll have to try it for the sake of time & variety. 🙂

    Cheers,
    Kristina

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  13. I just read about the Charcutepalooza challenge. It really sounds
    exciting. Your duck looks so delicious, as do the potatoes. This
    was one recipe that Tricia and I both enjoyed with our families,
    but, of course, Dorie usually has great recipes.

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  14. I love love love duck. I would gladly eat your share 🙂 I didn’t know it could be cooked so quickly.Right now I have a bunch of Dorie’s cookbook on my x-mas list so hopefully I’ll be making this myself too

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  15. Mardi, every Friday brings a new brilliant recipe. Love the look of this duck. (big fan of duck) Although I must admit it’s something we haven’t had at all recently, so the next time I get duck I will probably use this recipe from the book. Beautiful.

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