Symbol picked up a duck breast for our miniversary and after some research we settled on this recipe for it, cobbled together from two online recipes. It took a while to make but was delicious. The sauce was great and the potatoes had that perfect crispy on the outside, soft on the inside texture. The duck didn't release enough fat for the potatoes on its own, but we had a leftover jar of chicken fat from earlier cooking projects and used that to bulk it up.

Duck and Crispy Potatoes with Orange Sauce

Adapted from Tasty and Serious Eats

Ingredients

• 1 lb duck breasts
• coarse salt
• 1 lb potatoes, cut into 8ths
• Chicken or bacon fat
• ½ C white wine
• 1 C chicken stock
• 1 tsp orange zest
• juice of 1 orange
• 4 tbsp butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until al dente, ~10 minutes. Drain.
3. Score skin side of duck in a cross-hatch pattern. Salt skin heavily and flesh lightly.
4. Place duck, skin side down, in a cold oven-safe skillet. Set heat to medium low.
5. Cook duck until fat has rendered off and skin is crispy. Adjust heat as needed to keep fat bubbling but not spitting; pour off duck fat into a large, deep skillet as needed to keep the duck from deep-frying.
6. Flip duck over and cook flesh side for a few minutes to sear it.
7. Flip duck skin side down again and transfer to oven. Cook until cooked through, ~150°F on the meat thermometer. Remove and let rest for 10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, add chicken or bacon fat to the large skillet (if needed) and bring to medium high heat. Add potatoes and cook until crispy golden-brown on all sides, turning as needed. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Meanwhile, deglaze chicken pan with white wine. Cook until fully reduced.
10. Add stock and continue cooking until thickened.
11. Add orange zest and orange juice and cook until thickened again.
12. Remove from heat and stir in butter.