Friday Feast: Seared Duck in Sweet Guinness Honey Sauce

There is something that speaks to me when I see Guinness in any recipe, I don’t know maybe it’s because I’m Irish but this recipe screamed ‘Make Me’ so I did. It comes to you from a well known hunter and outdoorsman, Steven Rinella from MeatEater. 

Duck is a great game to hunt and an even better one to eat. This recipe was awesome – but what really made it sensational was the sauce. I think you could easily pair this sauce with other game. The sauce is on the sweater side so to bring it down I would add some roasted potatoes because as an Irish woman potatoes make the meal.

What you need:
2 Duck Breasts
1 Cup of Guinness (you can drink the rest!)
2 Tablespoons of Honey
1 Tablespoon of Brown Sugar
1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 cup of vegetable stock
Salt and Pepper to Taste
1 Tablespoon of Butter  

Pour the Guinness in a small saucepan and whisk in brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, thyme, and honey. Bring this to a boil and reduce heat and let simmer while you prepare the duck.

Trim the duck breasts by removing excess membrane from the inside and scoring the fat side in a criss-cross fashion. Season the duck breasts with salt and pepper.

I varied from Steven’s original recipe and instead of using a skillet I decided to brown the skin of the duck in the Guinness sauce for about 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes take the duck breasts out of the sauce, place them skin side up into a dish and pop them into the oven for 30 minutes for 350. (Can be less depending on how pink you like your duck.)

While the duck is getting its cook on, add the cup of stock to the Guinness sauce and bring the simmering sauce back up to a boil.

Let the sauce reduce until it nicely coasts the back of the spoon. When 30 minutes is up grab your breasts from the oven. Take them out of the dish. Take the Guinness sauce and pour it into the dish with the remaining duck fat, add the Tablespoon of butter and mix together. Once it is mixing strain the sauce and drizzle over sliced duck.