US Women Magazine August 2014 Vol 1 Issue 1 | Page 42

Food Meet Our Chef... Chef Jackie Valenti Email: [email protected] Website: www.cookingkeptmesane.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jvcookingkeptmesane YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/CookingKeptMeSane INGREDIENTS 2 Moulard (sometimes called Magret) duck breasts, about 12 ounces each 1 cup dry sake 4 tablespoons turbinado sugar 1/4 cup Tamari, or your favorite soy sauce 1/3 cup fresh-squeezed orange juice 1/3 cup scallions, sliced into thin rings DIRECTIONS Gently score the fat side of the duck breasts into a cross hatch pattern. Be careful not to cut too deeply. Place the duck breast skin side down into a heavy bottomed sauté pan. Place the pan over medium low heat and let the fat begin to render. As the fat weeps out of the breast it will puddle. Turn the heat up a notch. Once the fat begins to bubble at the edge of the breast gently try to lift the breast without tearing the skin. Once the breasts are free from the pan turn the heat up a little more. Saute the breast until they are very brown on the skin side only. It will look as though the meat isn’t cooked at all. This is what you want. Remove the breast from the pan and set them aside. Drain the duck fat into a jar and reserve the fat for another use. Place the pan back onto the heat and add the sake and sugar. Bring the sake to a boil to dissolve the sugar and evaporate the alcohol. Let the sake reduce to 2/3 cup. Add the soy and orange juice and stir. Taste the sauce and if it seems to strong add a splash of water and if it is too weak add a splash of tamari. Add the duck back to the skillet skin side up and simmer the breast while bastion the skin until you have cooked them to the desired temperature. I like rosy pink, somewhere around medium rare to medium. Remove the pan from the heat and move the duck to a cutting board. Add the half the green onions to the sauce. Slice the duck into thin slices.