Duck Fajitas and A GIVEAWAY!

Duck Fajitas! We actually prefer them to beef fajitas in this household. The meat is so tender and flavorful, yet leaner and lower in calories. These duck fajitas made for an easy, delicious weeknight dinner.

To begin, I just sliced some boneless, skinless Maple Leaf Farms duck breast filets into 1/2 inch strips. Then I tossed the meat with garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add the duck strips and stir-fry until barely pink in the center. Remove duck from the skillet and set aside.

Heat another tablespoon of oil in the same skillet and add peppers and onions. Stir-fry until tender.

Return the duck to the skillet and stir-fry for another 2 minutes.

I assembled a build-your-own fajita bar on my kitchen counter with cilantro, lettuce, chopped avocado, cheese, salsa, and sour cream for topping.

And that's dinner. So good!

Duck Fajitas from Maple Leaf Farms Meals to Remember cookbook

4 (6 oz) Maple Leaf Farms boneless, skinless duck breast filets
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 each red, yellow, and green bell pepper, cut into long strips
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
12 (6-inch) flour tortillas, warmed according to package directions
Optional toppings: salsa, sour cream, diced avocado, chopped cilantro

Cut duck crosswise into 1/2 inch thin strips; place in a medium bowl. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper; mix well.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add duck strips; stir fry until barely pink in the center, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.

Heat remaining oil in the same skillet; add peppers and onion; stir-fry until tender, about 5 minutes. Return duck with any accumulated juices to skillet. Stir-fry 2 minutes. Serve in tortillas with toppings as desired.
Makes 6 servings
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And now for THE GIVEAWAY!!!!

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Maple Leaf Farms duck. You just have to read THESE POSTS  on my blog to know how much I love their products.

Some of you have commented on past posts that you also enjoy duck and some of you have written that you'd really like to try it. Well, for my fellow duck enthusiasts and for those of you who are just itching to try, this contest is for you!

The good folks at Maple Leaf Farms are sponsoring a GIVEAWAY here on Krista's Kitchen!

The prize pack includes:

4 Boneless, Skinless Duck Breast Filets

The Appetizer Sampler Pack featuring 5 pieces of each: Duck and Black Bean Quesadillas, Duck Springrolls, and Duck Potstickers. I have tried all three and loved them all! Delicious!

And finally, a copy of Maple Leaf Farms 25th Anniversary special edition cookbook Meals to Remember: A Celebration of Duck. This thematic, hard-bound cookbook valued at $35 features colorful pictures of mouth-watering appetizers, sides, salads, main dishes, AND desserts!

This is some serious duck swag!

To Enter:

Go to to the Maple Leaf Farms RECIPE PAGE and click the RECIPE pull-down in the bar at the top of the page. View the recipes; choosing from categories such as appetizers, entrees, soups, salads, (and more!) then come back here and leave a comment on this post stating which duck recipe you would most like to try.

For Additional Entries:

1. Become a fan of Maple Leaf Farms on Facebook.(1 bonus entry)

2. Follow this blog, Krista's Kitchen. (1 bonus entry)

3. Follow Maple Leaf Farms on Twitter, then comment here. (1 bonus entry)

4. Post about this contest on your blog, Facebook page, or Twitter and comment back here. (1 bonus entry for each post- limit 3)

The Rules:

* Giveaway closes on Sunday, February 13th at midnight EST.

* Open to residents of the United States only, please.

* You must leave an email address in your comment, be linked to a public profile containing your email address, or provide some way for me to contact you, in case you win. If you don't want to post your email here, you can email it to krista@kristaskitchen.com

* The winner will be announced in this post and notified by email and will have 48 hours from the time of that email to reply and claim their win before an alternate winner will be selected.

Good Luck!

This Contest is NOW CLOSED! Thank you for entering.

Roasted Duck Sandwiches on Ciabatta

Some people think of duck as a "fancy" dinner, but in our house, it's the basis for a number of easy weeknight meals. Nothing pretentious- we grill it, stir-fry it, pile it on tacos, and for the purpose of dinner this past Tuesday, make it into sandwiches. My daughters call it "duck steak" and gobble it up without complaint. Duck Steak is a good way to describe duck breast, because it eats like a steak. The White Pekin Duck yields a gloriously flavorful and tender red meat, but per 3 oz. portion, it has 7 grams less fat than a trimmed filet mignon and 55 less calories! Not only is duck leaner than beef, a skinless duck breast has less fat and calories than a skinless chicken breast. No joke!

I found this recipe for Roasted Garlic Duck Sandwiches in the Maple Leaf Farms "Meals to Remember" cookbook. Maple Leaf Farms is where I get all of my duck. They provide such a quality product! If you're interested in trying duck for the first time OR if you're shopping because you love duck as much as we do, I bet you can find MLF duck in a supermarket near you. If not...you can buy online. Check out their consumer website HERE. There are lots of tips and recipes on the site too!

To begin, just preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Then, score the fat on the duck breast. For an indepth tutorial on how to score a duck breast and render the fat, you can check out THIS VIDEO about how to cook a duck breast on the MLF website.

Place the duck breast in a skillet, skin side down in a skillet heated over medium heat. Cook for 8 minutes or until the skin is crisp and golden.

My skillet got a little hot, charring the skin. No biggie...I was going to discard the skin anyhow. The meat was still a-okay, when I sliced up the meat for the sandwiches.

After 8 minutes, turn the breasts and cook for another 3 minutes, then transfer the skillet to your pre-heated oven and bake for another 8-10 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 155 degrees. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes.

While the duck cools you can ready the sandwich. I went with a loaf of ciabatta bread, sliced in half and then cut to size for these sandwiches. Italian bread or any type of sandwich rolls would work well here too.

Gather the remaining ingredients: mayonnaise and stone ground mustard, tomato, salad greens, and red onion.

Stir 2 tablespoons each of mayo and mustard together to spread on the bread.

Remove the skin and cut the duck into thin slices.

Arrange the duck slices on the mayo-mustard spread bread.

Top with onion,

and tomato. This Heirloom tomato (picked up at my local supermarket) was the best tomato I've eaten in months. Just look how red and juicy!

Finally, heap on some salad greens.

Spectacular! While my husband and I enjoyed the duck sandwiches, our daughters shared a plate of cut- up duck breast, grapes, and ciabatta cubes, with a side of olive oil for dipping. No leftovers on this night!

Roasted Duck Sandwiches from Maple Leaf Farms Meals to Remember cookbook and adapted by me

2- 7.5 oz. marinated boneless duck breast fillets, thawed if frozen
2 tablespoons stone-ground mustard
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (I used light)
1/2 frisee or gourmet salad greens
4 slices Italian or rustic bread (I used ciabatta)
Red onion and tomato, sliced

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Score the skin of the duck breast, taking care not to puncture the meat. Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium heat until hot. Place duck in skillet, skin side down. Cook 8 minutes or until skin is crisp and golden brown. Turn duck; continue cooking 3 minutes. Pour off drippings. Transfer skillet to pre-heated oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the internal temperature of the duck reaches 155 degrees. Transfer duck to a carving board and let stand for 10-15 minutes. Remove skin and cut duck lengthwise into thin slices.

Combine mustard and mayonnaise in a small bowl. Spread mixture over bread. Arrange slices of duck over the bread. Top with red onion and tomato slices and salad greens or frisee. Close with remaining bread. Serve immediately or wrap in foil and refrigerate until serving time. Makes 2 servings.

Spicy Duck Stir-Fry

I came up with this stir-fry recipe to move out some of the ingredients in my fridge. My inspiration: a couple of duck breasts that I didn't cook when I made Pan Seared Duck Breast with POM-Thyme Reduction Sauce last month. I don't like to keep uncooked meat in the fridge for more than two days, so we had duck twice during this particular weekend. I also had a container of PF Chang's "special sauce" leftover from theBeef Lettuce Wraps I'd made the week before. Once I had the protein and the sauce I was ready for veggies. Further investigation into the contents of my fridge revealed some green onions and a yellow bell pepper in the vegetable crisper that were suddenly looking not-so-crisp. Perfect! After a quick round-up of additional flavor-enhancing ingredients, (garlic, ginger, hot pepper, and sesame oil) I was set. I pushed up my sleeves, slapped on an apron, heated a little oil in my skillet, and started chopping!

Actually, before I started chopping, I did this:



That is, I sliced the duck breast and added it to the "special sauce" to marinate for a bit while I chopped and sliced my veggies.

Here are my veggies from left to right: 1/2 of a flaming hot Serrano pepper, seeded and finely chopped, a yellow bell pepper, cut into strips, 3-4 green onions, cut diagonally into 1" pieces, and finally a couple cloves of garlic, minced and crushed under my knife.



I added the duck breast to about a tablespoon of oil, heated in my skillet over high heat. Cook and stir constantly until the duck is nearly cooked,



then add in the garlic and green onions and 1-2 teaspoons of "mashed" ginger. I use the kind from a tube, purchased in the produce department of my grocery store. Cook and stir 30 seconds, or until fragrant.



Add in the peppers and stir fry for another minute, or until the yellow pepper is tender-crisp.



To finish, lightly drizzle with a bit of sesame oil and serve over rice.



This turned out amazing! The flavors and textures all worked really well together. That Serrano pepper added quite a bit of heat. The kind of heat that leaves your mouth burning for a some time after you've finished eating. I'm glad that I only used half a pepper AND took out the seeds. For me the heat was just right. I was happily surprised by the success of this dish. Sometimes when I throw a bunch of ingredients into a skillet because they need to be used up, it turns out okay. Sometimes not. But this one has made it into the winner's circle! I'll definitely make Spicy Duck Stir-Fry again!

Spicy Duck Stir Fry created by me : )

Marinade: P.F. Chang's Special Sauce from Recipezaar.com

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1-2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste

Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl.
Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil and chile paste. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to use.

Stir fry:

2 boneless duck breast halves, thinly sliced
4 green onions cut diagonally into 1" pieces
1/2 to 1 Serrano pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 red or yellow sweet bell pepper, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 teaspoons mashed ginger
1/4 t. sesame oil (for drizzling)

Add duck to the special sauce marinade and allow to sit while you chop the green onions, peppers, and garlic. Heat a wok or heavy skillet over high heat. When very hot, pour in the oil. Add the duck slices, and cook, stirring constantly until they are nearly cooked. Then add the garlic, ginger, and green onions and cook for 30seconds, or until very fragrant. Add the peppers and cook for another minute. Turn off heat. Drizzle with 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil. Serve over rice.

*I used Maple Leaf Farms pre-seasoned duck breast for this recipe. You can find their products at your local grocery or shop online here.

To download or print this recipe click here!

Pan Seared Duck Breast with POM-Thyme Reduction Sauce

I admit, this dish is a bit fancy for a Thursday night dinner. I had some duck breast in my freezer that I needed to use up and I still have a couple of bottles of POM Wonderful in my fridge that I won in a giveaway on Deep South Dish. I found this recipe on the POM Wonderful website. I was excited to try it out and combine 2 excellent products for one fabulously delicious dinner. If you're still looking for a special Valentine's dinner to prepare for your sweetie, you may want to print this one. This dish would be perfect with a nice bottle of red wine and a dessert of lava baby cakes or individual caramel flans with POM syrup.

If you've never tried duck, you're in for a treat. It's such a wonderful protein. You may expect it to be like chicken or turkey, but for me it's nothing like the other birds commonly consumed in this house. Truthfully, the best comparison to another meat that I could make would be filet mignon. It's tender and juicy and meaty...but healthier for you than beef.

Among people who have never tried duck, or those who rarely eat it, there appears to be at least two concerns. One concern seems to be a lack of knowledge of how to properly prepare duck. Actually cooking duck is not too different from cooking other meats and once a few basic principles are mastered, most anyone can become a master duck chef. You can get duck cooking tips HERE or check out my last post about preparing duck for a step by step preparation tutorial. The other concern among the uninitiated appears to be the somewhat higher fat content of duck, which is true of whole duck but not of leg meat or skinless breast. In truth, White Pekin duck breast is comparable in fat and calories to a skinless chicken or turkey breast. Check out this nutritional information chart comparing duck breast to chicken, turkey, and a number of cuts of beef. If you thought that duck was too "fatty" before, this should alleviate any concerns.

I used Maple Leaf Farms duckling for this and all of the duck recipes that I prepare in my kitchen. Maple Leaf Farms is only about 10 miles from where I grew up. Not only have I toured their facilities, I interned with them in both Marketing and Research and Development when I was in college. It's a tip top operation, offering the best possible products. The good news is that you can get Maple Leaf Farms Duckling just about anywhere in the U.S. Look for it in your local grocery store.

Since this recipe features a reduction sauce, I began that first. Because it needs to well...reduce. Begine with 2 cups of POM Wonderful juice and cook it down to 1/4 cup.



Then, add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic to a large heavy-bottomed pot. Saute over medium heat, caramelizing the vegetables nicely.



Add the red wine and simmer over medium-low heat. Allow to reduce to a syrup.



Allow to reduce to a syrup.




Strain out the vegetables and discard. I pressed mine through a sieve to eek out the last bit of that syrup.



Add 2 quarts of chicken stock to the red wine reduction and reduce down to 2 cups.



Add fresh thyme sprigs and pomegranate juice reduction to finish. At first taste, I wasn't really sure about this sauce, but after I simmered it for a bit and the thyme infused into the flavor, this sauce really added to the dish.



With the sauce well on it's way to complete, I prepare my duck. The recipe instructs to season the duck breast. These duck breasts came pre-seasoned, so I skipped this step. Next, I scored the fat on each breast. Check out my last post about duck for additional details. By scoring a duck breast and then searing it on the scored side, you can eliminate up to 70% of the fat, while crisping the skin and adding to the distinct flavor of the meat.



Add olive oil to a large saute pan, over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the duck breast, skin side down. Sprinkle with crushed rosemary. Sear for 7-9 over medium heat. Flip the duck breast over and cook for an additional 3 minutes for medium rare. Go a couple of minutes longer for medium. You really don't want to go much past medium, in my opinion. Remove the duck from the pan and allow it to rest for 2 to 3 minutes before slicing.




While the duck rests, drain most of the fat from the skillet and then toss in a whole, diced shallot. The recipe recommended to "sweat" the shallot, rather than brown it. Mine browned. I'd like to know, what's so wrong with that? It was delicious!



Slice the meat diagonally before transferring to your serving plate. See?! It's like steak, only leaner! Note: I removed the skin before slicing.



To prepare each plate, I put down a bed of the sauteed shallots.



Then I ladled the POM-Thyme reduction sauce over the shallots and topped with sliced duck. It was perfection!



I served mine with garlic-cheddar smashed potatoes and some vegetables. (Confession time: they were Green Giant mixed veggies in rosemary butter).





Pan Seared Duck Breast with POM-Thyme Reduction Sauce from the POM Wonderful website. Written by Chef Erick Williams mk, the restaurant, Chicago
(adapted by me)

Time to Table: 35 Minutes Prep: 1 Hour 35 Minutes Cooking
Makes: 4 Servings.

POM Thyme Reduction Sauce

juice from 4 large POM Wonderful Pomegranates,* or 2 cups POM Wonderful 100% pomegranate Juice
4 oz. Spanish onion
2 oz. carrot
2 oz. celery
1 clove garlic
2 cups red wine
2 quarts chicken stock
5 sprigs fresh thyme

Pan-Seared Duck Breast with Seasonal Vegetables

4 duck breasts
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon crushed rosemary
1 small shallot, minced
3 cups seasonal vegetables
1 sprig fresh rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

POM Thyme Reduction Sauce: Prepare fresh pomegranate juice*, in a small pot, reduce the pomegranate juice to 1/4 cup (2 fl. oz.) or until it coats the back of a spoon easily, then remove from heat, rough chop the onion, carrot, celery and garlic, saute in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, caramelizing the vegetables nicely, add red wine and simmer over medium-low heat, allow to reduce to a syrup. Strain out the vegetables and discard, add 2 quarts of chicken stock to the red wine reduction and reduce down to 2 cups, add fresh thyme sprigs and pomegranate juice reduction to finish.

Pan-Seared Duck Breast with Seasonal Vegetables: Season the entire duck breast, add the olive oil to a large saute pan, over medium heat, when the oil is hot, add the duck breast, skin side down. Sprinkle with rosemary. Sear for 7 to 9 minutes over medium heat. Flip the duck breast over and cook for an additional 3 minutes for medium rare, remove the duck from the pan and allow it to rest 2 to 3 minutes before slicing. Drain all but 1 teaspoon of the duck fat from the skillet. Add minced shallots to pan and saute the shallots, for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the seasonal vegetables and saute until warmed thoroughly. (I skipped this step and prepared my veggies separately) Slice each duck breast, diagonally, into 1/2" pieces, serve the duck with the vegetables and the pomegranate thyme reduction.

Nutrients per Serving
Nutrients per Serving (1 duck breast): 119 calories (2 g fat), 28g protein, 15g carbohydrates, 2g dietary fiber, 111mg cholesterol, 8g total sugars, 18mcg vitamin A RE, 670mg sodium, 399mg potassium, 28mg vitamin C.

To download or print this recipe click here!

Marinated Duck Breast

If you read the title of this post and wrinkled your nose, then bear with me. If you've had duck in the past and didn't enjoy it...maybe it wasn't the "right" kind of duck. If someone shot it down over a pond, chances are it tasted a little fishy or gamey. The kind of duck I'm talking about is the farm-raised White Pekin duck. Believe it or not, flavor and quality varies between the breeds of farm-raised duck as well. The White Pekin produces a tender, mild meat that adapts to a wide range of flavor profiles and cuisines. I happened to grow up very near to the country's leading duck producer, Maple Leaf Farms. While most families were having their Easter ham, we went to my grandparents for duck on the grill. We don't just eat duck on holidays, either. My mom sometimes served it for a middle-of-the-week dinner. That's just what I'm doing for today's meal plan menu. Thursday night duck, wild rice, and asparagus. My mouth waters just typing those words. Lucky me, two packages of marinated duck breast showed up in my freezer the last time my family visited (Thanks!).
Here is the package of duck breast, after defrosting in my refrigerator. I think this is Cajun flavored or Chipoltle. Unfortunately it wasn't labelled. It did have a little "kick" whatever the flavor.

Let me start by providing the link an instructional "How to Cook a Duck Breast" clip. If you're wondering where to purchase duck breast, check your local grocery store or you can check the Maple Leaf Farms website to see if they offer products near you. I swear, I'm not on the payroll, I just enjoy their products.

So here we go. If you watched the video, you know that it is important to score the fat. Here is my interpretation of that step.


Now, I put the duck into my skillet, on medium-low heat and cook for about 15 minutes. No need to put any oil in there, as it cooks, the duck creates enough fat so that it will not stick. If you've tried duck that was greasy, chances are that it was not prepared correctly. Trust me, there was nothing greasy about this duck breast after it was prepared. Juicy, but not greasy.


While the duck is cooking, I put the wild rice mix on the stove and clean the asparagus. Just wash, cut off the woody part of the stem and any scales, and set aside.


When the skin of the duck breast is a little crisp and a deep golden brown, flip them over and pan sear for a few minutes.


Let's finish them up in a 400 degree oven. Mine were in the oven about 6 minutes and I temperature checked them with my meat thermometer at 160 degrees.


While the duck is finishing in the oven, toss the asparagus into enough lightly salted, boiling water to steam. Cover the pot. Cook for 4-6 minutes until tender-crisp and remove from heat.


Everything together.


I remove the skin before eating. Here's the first bite. If you're new to duck and you expect that it might taste like chicken, that would be an incorrect assumption. In my opinion, it does not taste like chicken at all. The closest thing that I can compare it to is steak. A good steak.


Delicious!