Recipe - Crispy Duck Breasts With Pear And Green Peppercorn Sauce

1 One half pound Boneless duck breast (4
boneless breast halves,
cut from two 5 One half to
6pound duck
1 Firmripe Bosc pear
Three fourths cup Apple juice
One half teaspoon Cornstarch
2 tablespoon Calvados or Armagnac
1 tablespoon Green peppercorns packed in
brine, drained and crushed
lightly
1 tablespoon Duck or veal demiglace or
One half Extralarge vegetarian
vegetable bouillon cube
1 teaspoon Fresh thyme leaves or
One fourth teaspoon Dried, crumbled thyme

GARNISH
Fresh thyme sprigs

Trim excess fat from duck breasts, reserving fat for sauteing vegetables.
Heat a 12inch heavy skillet over high heat until very hot. Pat breasts dry
and season with salt. Put breasts, skin sides down, in skillet and reduce
heat to moderate. Cook breasts 20 minutes, or until skin is crisp and
mahoganycolored, removing fat from skillet as it is rendered with a metal

bulb baster (or very carefully pouring it off). Turn breasts and cook about
2 minutes for mediumrare or to desired doneness. Transfer breasts to a
plate and keep warm, covered loosely. While duck br

easts are cooking, peel pear and cut into 1/4inch dice. Pour off all but
about 1 tablespoon fat from skillet and saute pear until lightly browned,
about 1 minute. In a measuring cup stir together ap

ple juice and cornstarch. To pear add Calvados or Armagnac. Stir in
cornstarch mixture, peppercorns, demiglace or bouillon cube, and thyme and
simmer, stirring, 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened
Recipe By : COOKING LIVE SHOW #CL8761

Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #306

Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 13:51:08 0500

From: "Angele and Jon Freeman" jfreeman@netusa1.net