It has been rather long since I posted a new recipe on this blog and high time to break the „lazy spell“ that somehow enveloped me during these last challenging months spent in the home office and away form social contacts. – But where everything else fails, the upcoming holidays prove to be a source of inspiration and led me to tackle this French recipe for roasted duck breast that comes along with a daring and delicious raspberry-cassis sauce.

Sanni

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 2 duck breasts
• Freshly ground pepper, salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar.
• 1/8 l of red wine
• 85 ml of Crème de Cassis
• 1/2 tablespoon of corn starch
• 125 grams of raspberries

Preparation:

1. Score the duck breasts on the fat side in a criss-cross pattern, making sure that you do not cut through to the flesh. Bring to room temperature (i.e. leave outside the fridge for around 30 minutes).
2. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
3. In the meantime, do some preparation for making the sauce: Mix the wine and the Crème de Cassis. In a separate bowl, mix the starch with 2 tablespoons of the wine and Crème de Cassis mix until smooth, then add the remaining liquid.
4. Mix the sugar and cinnamon and press the mix into the fat side of the duck breast.
5. Season the duck breasts (both sides) with pepper and salt.
6. Place the duck breasts in a cold pan fat side down, and slowly heat it up. This helps to melt out the fat and the skin to crisp up. Let the fat melt out as much as possible (this can take 10-15 minutes).
7. Pour out the excess fat (place aside) and place the duck breast in the oven for around 5 to 6 minutes for a medium roasted meat (a few minutes longer if you like it well done). Let rest outside the oven for 10 minutes, cover with aluminium foil to keep warm. Heat up the grill of your oven in the meantime.
8. While the duck breast are in the oven and is resting, finish making the sauce: Warm up 2 tablespoons of the duck fat in a frying pan. Add the wine and starch mix and let simmer on medium heat (stirring frequently) until the sauce starts to thicken.
9. Add the raspberries to the sauce and cook for another minute. Season with salt and pepper.
10. In the final step, place the duck breast fat side up under the grill for (maximally) 1 minute until the sugar starts to caramelize.
11. Cut the duck breast into slices, place on a platter or on individual dishes and pour the sauce over it.
12. Serve with soft-boiled potatoes or potatoes dumplings.