Duck Breast with Honey, Thyme and Red Wine

Magret are extremely popular in this region of France and they are undeniably very delicious. You will love this combination of a slightly sweet and sour sauce scented with wild thyme with the rich duck breast. The breasts are given a flavoursome rub and then roasted in a very hot oven; no need to pan fry. Many recipes do suggest pan frying, don’t think that they skin will become crispy as it will not, the dish is meant to be succulent and moist. Crispy duck breast is a product of Chinese cooking.
Duck breasts are best served pink; if going for well done they will be tough and dry, honestly I would serve something else!. Count on 1 duck breast to serve 2 people or 2 breasts for 3 with a large appetite. The sauce is quite simple to make, but none the worse for it, being based on reduced wine flavoured with cherries and lightly sweetened, this sweet-sour combination cuts the richness of the duck very well.

Ingredients

4 duck breasts, at room temperature.
2 tbsp dried thyme
2 tsp Japanese soya sauce
Pepper and salt
250 ml red wine
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp good flavoured red jam or jelly, such as cherry or redcurrant jelly
Half a small jar of stoned Morello cherries (a large handful)
2 tsp arrowroot slaked in 1 tbsp water

Method:

Dry the duck breasts on paper towels and score the skin lightly with a diamond pattern using a very sharp knife. This will allow the fat to run out as the breasts cook. Rub the duck breasts with half of the dried thyme, the soya sauce and season with pepper and salt. Place them in a baking dish large enough to hold them in a single layer. (This dish can be prepared ahead up to this point.)

Cook the duck breasts in an oven at 220 degrees centigrade for 12 minutes for very rare, 15 for pink. If you are not using a fan oven, heat a normal oven to its maximum and if the breasts are not fully at room temperature, give them 2-3 minutes more each. Remove the dish and transfer the duck breasts to a plate, cover with foil and a towel and rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting them. Reserve the meat juices in the baking dish, scraping up any baked on bits, but drain or scoop off the fat, which will be copious (this may be reserved for cooking potatoes).

While the duck breasts are cooking, boil the red wine hard with 1tbsp thyme until reduced to about 4 tbsp. Pass the purple liquid through a sieve and discard the thyme. Add the reduced wine liquid to the breast roasting pan, and start to simmer, adding any juices collected on the duck resting plate and later from carving the duck. Remove any grease as carefully as you can, add the honey and jam/jelly and taste for seasoning, adding extra honey if necessary. Add enough arrowroot to thicken the sauce lightly, simmering gently. The aim is to create a balance of sweet/sour/aromatic in the sauce so as to complement the rich duck breast.

Carve each duck breast on a diagonal slant as thinly as possible with a very sharp knife. I find this easiest on a wooden chopping board. Add any juices to the sauce, give it a final reheat and as is usual for nearly every French sauce, add a knob of butter about the size of a halved walnut to make the sauce glossy and round out is flavour. Arrange the sliced duck breasts on each plate, fanning them out and pour a little sauce over each one.
Serve with potato gratin and a simple vegetable, such as glazed carrots.