Duck is scary. Even the most accomplished home cooks, who don’t bat an eye at the thought of roasting whole turkeys, searing tuna, or grilling swordfish, quake at the thought of the duck breast. Duck can so easily become both greasy and dry with its rich but lean flesh and thick fatty layer of skin. What you need is some way to melt this fatty layer, keeping just enough to be crispy and tasty while keeping the flesh moist. Here’s how it’s done.
Season a boneless (but skin on) breast of duck liberally with salt and pepper. Place it skin side down in a cold, dry, heavy-bottomed sauté pan. This means the pan should not be a non-stick pan. The pan should have no oil or butter or Pam spray or anything of the sort in it. The pan should be “sitting on your counter” cold. Put the pan with the duck in it over a low flame and do nearly nothing for 15-20 minutes. Do not move the breast. Do not flip it over. Every once in a while, pour out the fat that accumulates in the pan (tip the pan while holding the breast in place so it doesn’t fall out). After about 15-20 minutes, you will start to see the flesh facing upwards change in appearance (it becomes redder, almost leathery and more convex). The skin will be nice deep brown on the bottom. When these two things happen and you can no longer see a line of white between the brown skin and the flesh, turn the duck breast over, very briefly searing out the rawness of the flesh side. It should be on the flesh for only about 45 seconds, just becoming grayish-red. Feel free to pick up the breast and hold with a pair of tongs to evenly sear this flesh, getting the rounded parts. Let the breast rest on a rack with the skin side down for about five minutes to redistribute the juices. Put the breast skin side down on a cutting board and slice with a sharp knife (with the skin side down it will make it easier to keep the crispy skin in tact and on the pieces of duck). Enjoy with any number of sauces, on a salad, on sandwiches, etc.
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