We very rarely eat duck. Not sure why. It’s very meaty, more so than chicken, almost gamey. It’s so flavoursome – and really, very easy to cook. So from now on we shall be eating it more. We really like fatty, flavoursome meat in this house, so needless to say, everyone really enjoyed this. The trick is to cook it on the skin side, over a high heat, pressing it down and rendering the fat down so you have a crispy skin. I could’ve done this better; Adam is so much more skilled at this than me, but I still did an OK job! Everyone in this house likes eating fat so I wasn’t too worried about it. On skinny kids like mine who need fat as a key part of their diet, I am more than happy to see them chomping on it. I only used 2 large breasts, but if your family really like meat, then of course use more.
The fried brown rice is a really good cheat. Add diced peppers at the start, or diced broccoli, or spinach at the last minute – you could get a lot of goodness in here, depending on what the kids will eat. I love those microwave cooked rice packets, that’s what I’ve used here. They are such a great store cupboard standby. I also used a pre-made sauce, because it was Tuesday and I am not going to start stewing plums for a homemade sauce. I tried a Plum and Hoisin one from Sainsbury’s – check it out here in this week’s grocery haul! If you don’t have it simply leave out, or use another suitable Chinese sauce. (Or just soy sauce.)
The kids loved this meal! And it really was easy – a definite one to make again.
Makes: enough for 4
Takes: 25 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Salt and pepper
- 2 large duck breasts
Rice:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 bunch spring onions, sliced
- Mugful frozen peas
- Mugful frozen sweetcorn
- 2 x packets of Tilda brown rice (precooked, the microwave sachets)
- 1 tablespoon Plum and Hoisin sauce
To serve:
- Plum and Hoisin sauce
- Coriander
Ingredients:
- Take duck breasts out the fridge, and let them come to room temperature.
- Heat the pan until smoking, add oil and let that get hot too. Add the breasts and cook for about 9 minutes on skin side. Turn down heat to medium was they cook. Flip over for 2 minutes. Let them rest in a warm place. Add a little sauce to the pan and let it bubble on low. Add a small splash of water if it reduces too much.
- Meanwhile, heat oil and add spring onions and garlic and stir fry for a few minutes. Add peas and sweetcorn and continue to fry, then add rice. Keep on a low heat.
- To serve, slice breasts and pop on top of rice. Nap a little sauce from the pan over the duck.
