Duck with fruit: Elevating your summer dining experience

When you invite guests for an elegant lunch or dinner in the summer, you may wonder what to prepare to make it delicious and refined without having to spend half the day in a hot kitchen. That's when the idea of duck with fruit proves invaluable.

Duck is a type of poultry we rarely choose. Chicken and turkey are much more popular, likely due to their lower prices. However, duck, although not cheap, is perfect for special occasions. Especially since duck fillets with fruit taste incredibly sophisticated and resemble a restaurant dish.

Duck, recognised as the most noble type of poultry, delights with a flavour that stands out distinctly from chicken or turkey. You can prepare the duck whole. In that case, young specimens weighing about 2 kilograms are recommended. Unfortunately, the roasting process takes quite a long time, and when heating the home, the duck can be difficult to divide elegantly. Therefore, a better choice is duck fillets.

Although combining meat with fruits is not very popular, it pairs beautifully with duck. Traditionally, apples or oranges are used. However, it's worth refreshing this list during the fresh fruit season. To the delicate duck breast fillet, a cherry sauce, grilled peaches, rhubarb, and raspberries match perfectly. It all depends on how open we and our guests are to new flavours. You can always safely opt for apples or citrus fruits.

You can prepare duck fillets with fruits in two ways. The traditional method is to bake the meat with pieces of apples or oranges. Another method? You bake the duck and then serve it with a fruit sauce like cherry or raspberry. In every instance, the key is well-cooked meat. Therefore, take the fillets out an hour before cooking to let them reach room temperature. Clean, wash, and score the skin. Please place them in a pan skin-side down to render the fat. Then, turn them to the other side. Fillets prepared this way can then be baked in the oven.

Ingredients:

• 4 duck breasts,
• 40 millilitres of orange juice,
• 4 tablespoons of oil,
• Salt, pepper, honey, and favourite herbs to taste,
• 3 apples or oranges.

Method:

1. Rinse the duck fillets, pat dry with a paper towel, and score the skin in a crosshatch pattern with a knife.
2. Mix the oil, honey, orange juice, spices, and herbs in a bowl. Add the fillets to the marinade and let them marinate for an hour.
3. On a dry pan, fry the duck on both sides for about 5 minutes each.
4. Transfer the duck fillets to an ovenproof dish, pour the remaining marinade, and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C (350°F) for about 20 minutes. Then, add fruit pieces.
5. Bake for another 25 minutes (or less, depending on how well you like it).

You can also bake the duck without fruits and prepare a raspberry sauce.

Ingredients: 

• 200 grams of raspberries,
• 200 millilitres of red wine,
• A tablespoon of honey,
• Salt, pepper, ginger, and cinnamon to taste.

Method:

1. Boil the wine with spices.
2. Add raspberries and cook for about 3 minutes.
3. Finally, add honey and cook a little longer on low heat to evaporate excess liquid.
4. Serve the baked duck fillets drizzled with the sauce.