Crispy skin and juicy meat are the key technique of cooking duck breasts. First, to have that famous extra crispy skin, you need the pan to be smoky hot.

Second, you need a kind of fat that can bear high temperature without changing the flavor or the color, I usually use duck fat before starting the searing. As you know, the duck breasts are very fatty so you need to score the skin to create crosshatch pattern which will ease the release of the extra fat while you are searing, it is important to get rid of it regularly whenever it builds up.

Last, it is very important to remember that the duck breasts meat itself are quite lean despite the fatty skin, so the best way to cook it is to keep it medium rare otherwise it turns out dry and rubbery, no one wants crispy skin with dry meat.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound about 2 duck breasts.

1-tablespoon duck fat

Salt/freshly ground pepper to taste

STEPS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

First, dry the duck breasts with paper towel and start scoring the fat in two directions to create a crosshatch pattern. It is very important to cut through the fat and not into the meat of the breasts.

Second, season generously the duck breasts with salt and freshly ground pepper. Heat a nonstick pan over high heat, when hot add the duck fat (it can bear high temperatures without smoking or altering its flavor and makes the skin crispier).

Finally, start searing the duck skin side down making sure to remove the excess fat from the pan whenever it built up (to give the skin a beautiful brown color crust). Keep searing on both side until crispy brown, bake for about 4 to 5 minutes.