Duck Breasts with Blackberry-Port Sauce

I was feeling a little fancy this week so I decided to challenge myself with a protein I rarely use: duck! I’ve actually only worked with duck twice (Duck Breasts with Cider Farro Risotto and Grilled Duck with Warm Mushroom Salad and Truffle Vinaigrette), but I tend to order it at restaurants quite a bit.   I am also on a berry kick at the moment (if you missed it, go check out the Blueberry Coffeecake I posted recently!) so I was really excited to try this Cooking Light recipe for Duck Breasts with Blackberry-Port Sauce.   I served mine with some sauteed green beans but Cooking Light also suggests serving the duck over a bed of lettuce.     Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 (6-ounce) boneless duck breast halves, skinned
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 1/2 cups blackberries
• 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup port or other sweet red wine
• 3/4 cup unsalted chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

  A couple of notes:

• I did not skin my duck breasts, thinking I could get them to crisp up.  Whelp. That was silly. We ended up just cutting it off after it was done cooking but save yourself the hassle and skin the duck prior to cooking. It will also cut down the cooking time (mine took about twice as long because of the fattiness of the skin).
• In case you need some “other sweet red wine” suggestions, both Madeira and Marsala would work instead of port.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Season the duck with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.   Add the duck breasts to the pan and cook for 3 minutes on the one side or until browned.   Turn the duck over and cook for an additional 3 minutes, or until desired degree of doneness. (You want it to still have some pink to it. Duck gets chewy if cooked fully) Note: I had to keep mine on there for 6-8 minutes instead of 3 once I turned it over. If skinned, the duck should be cooked after 3-5 minutes.    Remove the duck from the pan and let stand for 5 minutes.   While letting the duck rest, add the blackberries, shallots and thyme to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes or until slightly softened.   Add the port and cook for 1 minute, or until syrupy. (I cooked mine for about 3 minutes, although I honestly don’t think it ever really got syrupy)   Add the stock and any juices that accumulated on the plate from the duck. Cook for 5 minutes or until thickened and reduced to about 1/2 cup.   Stir in the vinegar and season the sauce with salt and pepper.   Cut the duck across the grain into thin slices and serve with the sauce.   Um.  YUM.   The blackberries were a great complement to the duck! The sweetness of the port was balanced by the acidity of the blackberries and the vinegar which made for a really delicious sauce. We polished this off in no time!   Even with my leaving the skin on, the end result was still amazing. Next time I’ll actually follow Cooking Light’s directions and have this meal finished in half the time!