Pan-roasted duck breast with arugula, orange salad

Make this delicious dish from chef of acclaimed Abe & Arthur’s restaurant

Video: Tired of chicken? Try duck!

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>>> this morning, what's for dinner? tired of chicken? try duck. suffering succotash . chef, great to see you.

>> nice to see you, too.

>> a lot of people are intimidated by duck but it's easy.

>> it is.

>> if you are doing it with the skin on you want to render this off.

>> the most important thing is to render the fat out. a lot of people think duck is unhealthy. it's not if you take away the fat or render it off. i will season it lightly with salt on the skin side and then salt and pepper on the breast side.

>> should you score the skin at all?

>> you don't need to. some people think you do. you really don't need to. depends on the effect you are looking for. i do it on a really low temperature. this way i'm really not cooking the flesh and i'm rendering out the fat.

>> okay.

>> we're going to move to this pan. we have this breast, about 20 minutes later and as you can see it's nice and golden brown .

>> nice.

>> what i'm going to do is take some thyme and some garlic --

>> wow, attack it.

>> i will crush it with the heel of my hand and do a technique which is to baste. i will baste the flesh and allow the meat to kind of cook. then i will flip it over. at this point i would pop the duck in the oven for a minute. there is very little fat here.

>> right. we have a salad to go with it. this is nice to cut the fat.

>> exactly. citrus is so cleansing. it really works well with the salad. we have fennel, frise and baby aru arugula. it makes the salad pop. we have orange segments. these are nice.

>> mint?

>> just going to tear it. al, want to toss that?

>> you bet.

>> i will season it with a little bit of salt. salt draws out moisture and makes things taste good. i'm just going to squeeze the juices of an orange.

>> yes.

>> that i have segmented in and a little bit of lemon juice .

>> always good to check when you hear that door open. you never know who's coming in.

>> that didn't sound welcoming, al.

>> it was absolutely.

>> i think we should leave.

>> it was just a warning.

>> and a light drizzle of

Show transcript

TODAY recipes

updated 2/14/2011 3:26:31 PM ET

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In the past, duck was considered too expensive and hard to get, but now it’s becoming more mainstream. Here, chef Franklin Becker, of acclaimed New York City restaurant Abe & Arthur’s, shares a recipe for a delicious duck dish.

Recipe: Pan-roasted Long Island duck breast (on this page)

Recipe: Pan-roasted Long Island duck breast

Franklin Becker

Ingredients

For duck
1 package Peking duck breasts , trimmed of excess fat and sinew
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic
Thyme
For the salad
1/2 pound frisee, washed
1/4 pound arugula
1/4 pound fennel, shaved
2 cara cara oranges, cut into segments and squeeze the juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
4 sprigs mint, chiffonade
Salt and pepper to taste
Fried shallots

Preparation

For duck
Season the duck breast with salt on both the flesh and skin side of the duck breast. Season with pepper only on the flesh side. Place the duck breast skin side down in a non stick sauté pan, turn the flame on low and slowly render the fat, discarding as you go until the skin is golden brown and crispy. Add the garlic and thyme to the pan. Poele (baste) the duck breast with the excess fat that has now been infused with the garlic and thyme. Turn the breast over and allow to rest in the pan for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and rest 5 more minutes before slicing the duck breast.

For salad
Combine the salad greens with the cara cara orange segments and the mint. Season with salt and pepper. Toss the greens in a vinaigrette made from the fruit juices combined with the olive oil. Slice the duck breast and arrange with the salad. Toss the fried onions on top and enjoy.