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Hello!
I am very excited about today’s journal and recipe. In line with several recent requests for impressive but smaller-scale entertaining dishes, and more steam oven sous vide recipes, we’re making sous vide duck breast!
Many of us will be starting to plan festive menus soon. And though whole turkeys, giant hams and large joints of meat will be on many tables, having a few main-meal tricks up your sleeve that don’t require the strength and attention to detail of those huge centerpiece roasts is a huge benefit. Duck breast fits the bill perfectly and I’m going to show you how easy (and absolutely delicious) it is.
There are lots of great ways to serve duck breast, so I’m sharing some of my favorites alongside the basic recipe. I really hope you’ll find something below that entices you to try a duck dinner soon.
Before I go, a little blog and membership housekeeping: some of you have noticed that the Steam & Bake website has had an overhaul and looks a bit different, which is mostly thanks to my wonderful site designer Sandy. She’s been freshening things up on the home page and recipe index, and making my content look fabulous!
As well as looking different, there are some less-visible changes to how the site functions behind the scenes, which was my primary goal with this little (big!) project. I’ve been unhappy with the ease of navigation and search for Insiders, and we’ve worked hard to improve things on that front. We are not quite finished but I do hope you’ll find it easier to locate what you’re looking for when you visit the site. A huge thanks to those of you who have already given feedback, and I welcome all your comments on how things are working – yes, even/especially the ones to let me know something is not working! There are so many moving parts to a site with hundreds of pages, and even with hours of checks and re-checks, sometimes it takes another set of eyes to pick up whatever quirk the latest tech change has caused.
That’s it from me; happy steam oven cooking and I’ll see you in November, as most of us begin to get serious about Thanksgiving and Christmas cooking!
Emily x
Sous Vide Duck Breast with Crispy Skin
I love eating duck. It feels fancy and special, and until a few years ago I honestly thought it was something that was too hard to cook nicely at home.
Imagine, then, how happy I was to discover that sous vide duck breast is alarmingly simple to cook, and produces genuinely restaurant-quality results every time.
The sous vide method is ideal for entertaining because the duck can be cooked hours (or even days!) ahead of time, chilled, and then finished just before serving. It’s a very low-stress way to make something truly impressive, whether you’re feeding a few people or a crowd.
9 Ways with Sous Vide Duck Breast
Rather than give you one set side to go with your sous vide duck, I thought it would be more fun to give you a bunch of ideas so you can choose your own adventure! Try one of these; I’d very happily eat them all.
1. Sauce. Whatever you’re serving your duck with, you may want a sauce or condiment to go with it as well. You don’t have to work too hard here! A bought plum sauce or a smear of grain mustard will do wonders. A drizzle of pomegranate molasses, available from Middle Eastern grocers, is another simple accompaniment that’s brilliant against the fattiness of the duck. If you want something fresher, deglaze the pan after crisping up the duck skin, with freshly squeezed orange juice and a small knob of butter. You can thicken the mixture slightly with a little cornstarch dissolved in water, though it’s not necessary.
2. Potatoes. Duck loves a carby side, and whether you go with mashed, steamed or roasted you can’t really go wrong with a potato or three. I’d also add a very simple green salad with a sharp vinegar dressing, to cut the duck fat and carbs.
3. Lentil grain and herb salad with orange. Duck and lentils are great mates, as are duck and oranges! This salad is earthy and vibrant, and begging for thin slices of crispy duck breast alongside it.
4. While we’re at it, my friend Alex’s lentil salad is a more Mediterranean take on the lentils idea and every bit as good, with roasted peppers, feta and olives.
5. Honey roasted carrots, for a sweet and earthy note and beautiful color. As with the potatoes suggestion, I’d add a green salad too.
6. Hoisin sauce and store bought bao buns. This is a big favorite in my house; super easy and shareable, and everyone gets to build their own dinner. While you crisp the skin of your duck breasts, steam frozen bao buns (I buy them in big packs at Asian supermarkets) and warm a little hoisin sauce. I let my sauce down with a little water so it’s not as jammy, but you do you. Add thinly sliced cucumber spears, cilantro/coriander leaves and spring onions/green onions, and let everyone build their own buns.
7. Green beans with balsamic dressing and almonds. This, your duck breast, and a loaf of good bread is all you need for an elegant and perfectly balanced meal.
8. Brussels sprouts with parmesan. These roasted sprouts are so good that I’m always happy to eat them as a meal on their own, but paired with duck breast makes them even better.
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9. Steamed green veg with chili. This recipe includes creamy, soft cheese as one of the ingredients. If you’re serving it with the duck, though, I’d skip the cheese and just go with the veg. The duck serves the same purpose as the cheese; fatty and luxurious, so it’s a great combination with the simple vegetables and some spice from the chili.
From the Archives:
If you’re going to serve the classic combination of duck with lentils, you’ll want some steamed lentils on hand! Insiders Vol.27 is all about lentils; learn to easily cook lentils in the steam oven, and get other lentil-y recipes and ideas.
This one is a very recent archive in the Insiders collection, but I can’t think of much better to go with your perfect duck breast: smashed potato salad is the dream pairing for a meal that’s unbeatably delicious and full of texture. In fact, I love these two together so much that they’re strong contenders for the feature dishes of my Christmas table this year.
A Thing I'm Loving
A bit of a different thing I’m loving today, but almost food related so we’ll go with it!
My kids love Lego, and I’m sure almost every one of you knows at least one child who feels the same way about it. The past couple of years I’ve bought some of their Christmas-themed sets and given them to my boys as advent gifts that double as decorations once they’re built. They bring plenty of joy in our house, maybe they will in yours, too?
This year’s Christmas Lego is out and as a gingerbread lover from way back, I was excited to see gingerbread Legos! I’ve gotten hold of this very cute gingerbread ornament set, as well as a small gingerbread house. If you’re feeling flush, there’s also a large gingerbread house that would be great for older kids and adults to build together.
Ask Me Anything (AMA)
Here’s your opportunity to ask me anything you like related to combi steam cooking!
I really encourage you to submit questions, and will do my best to answer as many as possible. I can’t get to every single question, but I carefully curate ones which are relevant and represent a variety of topics. We all learn from each other, and I often learn new things based on questions from all of you!
If you have an AMA question, please email it to [email protected]. Make sure you include the phrase INSIDERS AMA in the subject line so I can collate and read all your submissions.
From Bronwen
Q: I have never bottled apples or pears before – I think it’s becoming more popular in the UK. Previously I think most people just made chutney.
How do you do this in the steam oven please? I’m sure you’ve said it’s quite easy but I feel quite nervous about attempting it.
A: Bottling fruit is a great way to use your steam oven, and yes, it is quite easy! I wrote about it for Insiders a while back – this canning and preserving in a steam oven article will give you a great overview. Within that article is a link to the Insiders pdf download I created for preserving different food items; apples is the last item in the chart so hopefully that will get you started!