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Noodle's Pan Roasted Duck with Raspberry Bordelaise Sauce
This will work with either duck breasts or legs. I prefer breasts, but you gotta use what you have.
First, pour one 750 ml bottle of red wine (pinot noir or beaujolais nouveau both work well here) into a saucepan with 6 to 9 ounces low sodium beef broth, three sliced shallots, and four sprigs of fresh marjoram. Get this simmering away merrily on the back of your stove.
Bring duck to room temperature. Carefully slice a cross hatch pattern into skin, do not cut into meat. This will allow for the subcutaneous fat to drain away. Salt and pepper duck.
Preheat oven to 450 Fahrenheit.
Heat large skillet, preferably NOT non-stick, over high heat. When hot, place duck, skin side down, into skillet. Sear for five minutes, remove pan from heat, remove duck from pan. A good deal of fat will have rendered out - pour this off.
Replace duck in pan, skin side up, and place in oven for eight minutes. Remove duck to warm platter and tent to keep warm and rest. Place skillet over high heat, and add tablespoon flour to fat in pan, stirring to make a paste (a roux). Cook this, stirring, for three minutes, scraping up brown bits stuck to bottom of pan (fond). Pour reduced wine / broth mixture into pan through a strainer to remove shallot and marjoram. Wisk roux into wine to thicken, and boil until reduced to syrupy consistency. Remove pan from heat, wisk in two tablespoons butter and one cup fresh raspberries. Raspberries will break down into sauce.
Thinly slice duck breasts diagonally and fan out on a plate. Spoon sauce over, adding additional fresh raspberries as garnish. The tart sweetness of the raspberries offsets the richness of the duck. If you cook this for a date or significant other, you WILL get lucky.