Duck Breast With Apricot Chutney Recipe

Nothing beats fragrant seared duck with perfectly crispy skin — especially when it's topped with a luscious apricot and cherry chutney. Leah Maroney knows how to make a delicious dish in a short amount of time. The chutney tastes as if it has been cooking all day when, in reality, it's complete in under 10 minutes. Duck cooks surprisingly quickly since it is often served medium rare (although you can cook it closer to well done if you wish).

Scoring the duck fat is essential to getting the crunchy skin. If the fat is not scored correctly, it cannot render properly. Use a sharp knife and score on an angle, and not all the way through to the meat. The last thing you want is a rubbery fat layer. Maroney also advises, "Do not disturb the duck while it's searing! Moving the duck too soon can cause it to stick to the pan and will affect its browning." If you render it correctly, you'll be surprised how much duck fat you get in this recipe. There's no lack of delicious duck fat recipes to use up the extra goodness that's created during the cooking process.

Juicy, sweet fruits go exceptionally well with crispy duck breast. We swoon for the classic duck a l'orange, but we love the combination of apricots, cherries, and orange even more. Plums and peaches would also be a hit, so don't be afraid to try different varieties.

Duck breast with apricot chutney starts with scoring the duck breast and then seasoning the fat side with salt and the meat side with Chinese five spice. This provides a nice depth of flavor to the duck. The duck is seared on both sides and finished in the oven.

Then, while the duck is resting, onions and garlic are sauteed in the duck fat. Then orange juice, brown sugar, orange zest, and chicken broth are added. Once that simmers a little the chopped apricots and dried cherries are incorporated. After only a few minutes of cooking, the chutney is thickened and is ready to serve over the duck breast.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.

Score the fat side of the duck breast in a crosshatch pattern with a sharp knife.

Salt the fat side with ½ teaspoon of the salt.

Season the meat side of the duck breast with the Chinese five spice. 

Sear the fat side in a very hot skillet for 4 minutes without disturbing.

Flip the duck breast meat side down. Cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Place the duck in the skillet into the oven for 3 minutes for medium rare.

Remove skillet from the oven and remove the duck from the pan. Allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Remove all but a tablespoon of the duck fat from the pan.

Add the minced onion, garlic, and ginger to the pan with the tablespoon of duck fat and heat on medium. Sauté until the onions are softened, about 4 minutes.

Add in the orange juice and chicken broth, stirring the bottom of the pan to release any of the caramelized bits.

Add the remaining salt and the dried apricots, dried cherries, and orange zest. Cook on medium low heat, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Slice the rested duck breasts on an angle into 1/4 inch slices.

Serve the duck with the chutney poured over the top.

Duck fat is incredibly rich, unctuous and versatile. It's used for a variety of recipes and can take the mundane to exquisite. If you need some inspiration on how to use up this liquid gold, we have plenty of ideas.

Have you ever fried French fries in duck fat? It provides excellent flavor that the potato absorbs perfectly while maintaining that crispy-fluffy dichotomy. If you want to take it a step further, use those fries to make a delicious duck poutine. French-Canadian food at its finest! Beyond spuds, duck fat is also great for sauteing veggies and searing steak.

You can also consider replacing butter with duck fat in even more casual dishes and snacks for an unexpected twist. Turn a delicious grilled cheese into an epic grilled cheese by smearing duck fat on the bread before it hits the griddle. For your next movie night, drizzle some melted duck fat over your popped kernels.

Chinese five spice is a staple in Chinese cooking. It is, of course, a blend of five spices: cinnamon, star anise, cloves, Szechuan peppercorns, and fennel. It's used in many traditional Chinese and Taiwanese dishes like Peking duck and minced pork over rice.

Since it is a blend of traditionally warm, sweet spices (cinnamon and clove) with essential savory ones (peppercorns and fennel), Chinese five spice can be used for a wide variety of dishes. It brings out the smoky flavor of a baked ham, but it can also season a cake or be baked into a pumpkin pie. Szechuan peppercorns are unique from regular black peppercorns; the Szechuan peppercorns have a numbing quality known as mala that's not exactly spicy, but it can be an acquired taste on its own.

You can mix the spice blend yourself, however, star anise and Szechuan peppercorns can sometimes be hard to find. Also, you will need a spice grinder or a mortar and pestle. Most grocery stores carry the five spice already blended — easy and convenient!

Duck can sometimes be hard to find. Often times it is in the frozen section. Check with your local butcher, Whole Foods, or even Costco. However, if you can't find duck, you can make this recipe with other proteins that still work great with the chutney.

Change up the classic apple sauce and pork. The sweetness of the fruit in the chutney complements pork exceptionally well. Try roasting a pork tenderloin and then creating the chutney with the pan drippings and serving it over slices of the roast. 

Chicken breast with the skin on can be cooked very similarly to the duck. However, you should definitely cook it to an internal temperature of 165 F rather than the medium rare of the duck. The chicken will need to cook in the oven for closer to 12 minutes rather than the 3 for the duck. The skin on chicken does not need to be scored, since it contains far less fat.