This week our Teen Chef’s will be making – Pan fried duck breast with blackberry sauce, served with gratin dauphinois.

Duck is very versatile and diverse and is widely loved for its rich, tender meat.

Duck has a succulence which lends itself well to sweeter flavours, which is why it is often served with fruit i.e. Duck à l’orange but it can also work well with mushrooms, or other meats.

In our recipe we will be serving it with a blackberry sauce which is fruity and satisfying, without being overly rich ideal with pan roast duck, especially in the winter.

Duck breast has a bold flavour, with rich flesh that can be served pink. While duck is known – and, indeed, loved – for being a rich, fatty meat, for the most part it is the skin of the duck which holds most of the fat. 

Did you know a skinless duck breast fillet is lower in both calories and fat than a chicken breast in addition to being rich in protein and iron. 

We will be serving our duck with gratin dauphinois, originally from the Alps, which has been adopted throughout France and lauded by the finest chefs, such as Escoffier. 

Since the 1800s, the term gratin was being used more or less the way we use it now: as a culinary technique that involves covering a dish in cheese or breadcrumbs and browning in the oven.  The process produces a dish with a tasty crust, gratin dauphinois is a classic French dish originally made without cheese. It is the starch from the potatoes, and the cream and milk, which give the dish its cheesy taste whilst the garlic gently infuses into the potatoes.

Gratin dauphinois, as its name would suggest is a speciality of the old Dauphine province of south-eastern France.

This week we will be using the following skills: Scoring, pan frying, cutting, slicing, washing, peeling, infusing, crushing, boiling and grating.  Layering, baking and making a sauce with fruit.

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See you Saturday Teen Chefs.