This quick duck breast salad combines a classic flavours with duck with unusual but simple techniques to create a fantastic main course salad.
Duck Salad.
I grew up thinking that salads were something pious that folk ate when they were on a diet… This. Ain’t. One. Of. Those. Salads!
This recipe takes ingredients that just work together and combines them with some fun techniques to create a fantastic light main course salad.
This is my spring duck salad, I also have a late summer duck salad that I pair with balsamic cherries.
It is also surprisingly quick taking just 30 minutes of pretty leisurely cooking.
I think this makes for a great date night salad leaving plenty of room for a dessert and even a starter.
It is also great fodder for a small dinner party, although I would avoid larger numbers. This is simply because getting the duck right for lots of people with different preferences can be difficult.
Cooking The Duck.
My preference for pan fried duck is the cold pan method.
The technique is exactly the same as the one featured in my duck a l’orange recipe that you can see in the video below.
As far as I am concerned the best, nay, the only way to get duck cooked perfectly consistently uses a meat thermometer.
I have no irons in the fire, use whatever one you like, I use one from that Swedish place that begins with “I”.
It cost me the equivalent of a fiver $7-8 for my US readers and has been with me for a long old time!
I am not one of those cooks that mock people for how they like their meat cooked.
My preference is as pink as is safe in any circumstance.
But it is your dinner, so here are some internal temperatures for you to look out for.
These temperatures represent the internal temperature after resting. You want to remove the meat from the pan when it is 3-5 degrees below this as it will continue to cook whilst resting.
- Medium Rare: 57°C
- Medium: 62°C
- Well Done: 67°C
Other Techniques.
This recipe features 3 other cooking techniques that are a little less common than most.
- Cooking Lettuce:
This is not as unusual as you may think, the French braise lettuce in petits pois a las Francaise.
This recipe sears the recipe in duck fat and it adds the foxiest of flavours! - Roasting Radishes:
This is a relatively new technique for me too and I love it. It helps eliminate a little of the harshness and adds some sweetness. - Seared Orange Segments:
This technique is not really unusual, although it is more commonly associated with dessert.
Here it adds sweet, sour and bitter notes to the salad and they also negate the need for a dressing.
Duck Breast Salad with Orange Recipe
This sup0er quick duck breast salad can be on your plate in just 30 minutes and has a few unusual new techniques to play with!
Ingredients
- 2 Duck Breasts
- 200 g Radish
- 2 Baby Gem Lettuce
- 2 Spring Onions
- 1 Orange
- Salt & Pepper
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
Instructions
- Top and tail the radishes and cut in half.
- Toss the radishes in the oil and season well with salt and pepper.
- Place in a single layer in a roasting tray and roast at 220°C or 450°F for 20 minutes.
- Cut a 1cm crosshatch shape in the skin of the duck ensuring that you do not cut through to the flesh.
- Season well with salt and pepper.
- Place the duck skin-side down in a cold pan.
- Turn on the heat under the pan so it is just below medium.
- Cook the duck breast without moving for 10-12 minutes.
- Cut the baby gem lettuce into quarters.
- Finely slice the spring onions.
- Peel and cut your orange into segments.
- As the duck renders out the fat you should drain it off and save it for cooking other stuff.
- After the duck has had its cooking time flip and cook to your liking, for me this is usually 5 more minutes.
- Remove the duck and rest for 5 minutes.
- Drain off the oil from the pan leaving scant covering, then place on a high heat.
- When the pan is hot place the lettuce in the pan cut side down and sear for 90 seconds.
- Finally, sear the orange segments under a hot broiler or with a blow torch.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 608 Total Fat: 33g Saturated Fat: 8g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 23g Cholesterol: 326mg Sodium: 395mg Carbohydrates: 15g Net Carbohydrates: 0g Fiber: 5g Sugar: 9g Sugar Alcohols: 0g Protein: 61g
I love the seared orange segments, and thinly sliced duck – a wonderfully refreshing dish! I’m really intrigued by the lettuce tossed in duck fat, I have to give that a go!
Oh yes, lettuce dressed in duck fat really is a beautiful thing!
I love duck but I haven’t cooked with it much. But if this only takes 20 minutes (give or take) it’s really doable. I’m thinking this is perfect for Sunday dinner with the family. Also, I’m 100% with you on the “anti salads”, lol.
Lot’s of people find duck intimidating but it really is very simple to cook, a bit more difficult to butcher and roast whole but cooking in constituent parts really is rather simple.
I love warm salads and duck with orange is always a winner. Great idea too to fry off the veggies – too many salads are too cold and set your teeth on edge!
You can’t be eating cold salads, they need to be room temperature at least 🙂
I’m just going to stare at these pictures and procrastinate some more while I dream about duck salad, okay? It’s not easy to find duck in the States, and rather pricey, so it’s not something I get to enjoy frequently at home lol.
It is so strange to hear that one of the most available meat sources globally is ‘expensive’ in the US, it is a wonderful meat and really very sustainable, but very difficult to farm on the same scales as chicken. But it is a wonderful treat and one chicken breast does 2 people 😀
I’ve only had duck once, but it was delicious. It’s probably a dish that I’ve been too afraid to cook..but I also wouldn’t even know where to begin to purchase it.
Thank you, it is so difficult to judge what is available and where, Duck is available everywhere here in Hungary and really affordable, in the UK it is less widely available but still not uncommon but quite expensive.
Sweet Jesus! That is one terrific looking dish! I’m craving duck right now and it’s not even 10 am. 🙂
Cheers Byron… I really struggle with putting food on a plate in a purdy way so wonderful to get some good feedback. I love duck, I try not to post too many duck recipes as I know it is costly in some parts of the world but it is very affordable out here and as it is such a ‘bold’ meat a little of it goes a long way.
The colors on this are just GORGEOUS, Brian!!
Thanks Hillary, I love the way this dish looks add that to the fact it is really tasty then it is a winner for us.
I have yet to cook with duck, but this salad looks so vibrant and delicious.. I need to try soon!
Duck is such a wonderful meat to cook with, I love how it is bold enough to stand up to big flavours and retain its own flavour.
I have to say, I was thinking as I initially saw this postnatal that I don’t do a lot of duck. But if this is your best dish, that alone is enough to get me to toss a duck breast into my shopping cart!
I love this dish it is bright, vibrant and fresh and so stupidly simple to make it is quite embarrassing!
This is a show stopper for sure! It looks fabulous! I like your attitude in here too! You’re right about guidelines! I think recipes are sources of inspiration you should make your own… Maybe because I just can’t follow a recipe due to serious organisation problems (but ssttt….). No seriously! I would be more honoured to hear someone is inspired by one of my meals than they tried to follow every step and miss the passion along the way! And that’s what I think is the key ingredient in here 😉
Anyway: only a long introduction to say this post looks like it’s made with love and care 🙂
Thanks Simon, I could not agree more… I have rarely ever followed a recipe to the letter (unless it is a rare forray into baking) other than that it is taste and move on… I just provide a rough guideline, as I say the passion has to come from the recipient 😀
Looks and sounds very delicious! Love the photography as well 🙂
Thank you Diana
What a lovely salad, very simple which is a plus for me. The styling of the food makes it even more appetising, good job Brian!
Thanks Charla
Such a beautiful plate of salad. Bright and inviting to eat 🙂
Thank you
I love seeing radishes being featured more on blogs. I love adding them to salads, as they add so much flavour.
Thanks Danii, a real early crop for us, have you tried roasting radishes? They are wonderful.
Wow! This looks incredible, duck is my absolute favourite meat protein and I love that you’ve seared the lettuce in duck fat! Everything about this just screams YUM! Need to add some duck to this week’s shop I think!
Haha, well if I have duck fat aint no way I am letting it go to waste and what better way to make boring lettuce interesting than searing it in duck fat #healthfreak 😀