Think a dish like ‘duck à l'orange’ requires a plane ticket to France, or, at the very least, a reservation at the fanciest French restaurant in town? Think again! This luxurious meal can be whipped up from the comfort of your very own kitchen—in 40 minutes, no less. There’s pan-seared duck glazed in a savory-sweet, thyme-flecked orange sauce, creamy duck fat mashed potatoes, and an arugula salad bursting with juicy orange segments, pickled shallot, and almonds. Take your taste buds on a trip—no passport required!
Produced in a facility that processes eggs, milk, fish, peanuts, sesame, shellfish, soy, tree nuts, and wheat.
12 ounce
Potatoes
¼ ounce
Thyme
12 ounce
Duck Breasts
1 unit
Shallot
5 teaspoon
Red Wine Vinegar
1 unit
Orange
1 unit
Apricot Jam
1 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
1.5 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains Milk)
2 teaspoon
Dijon Mustard
2 ounce
Arugula
½ ounce
Sliced Almonds
(Contains Tree Nuts)
1 teaspoon
Sugar
2 teaspoon
Olive Oil
2 tablespoon
Butter
(Contains Milk)
Salt
Pepper
• Wash and dry produce. • Dice potatoes into ½-inch pieces. (TIP: For a smoother texture, peel potatoes first.) Place in a large pot with a few thyme sprigs (you’ll use the rest in step 3) and enough salted water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, 15-20 minutes. • Remove and discard thyme sprigs. Reserve ½ cup potato cooking liquid, then drain and return potatoes to pot. • Keep covered off heat until ready to mash.
• Meanwhile, pat duck* dry with paper towels; season all over with salt and pepper. • Place, skin sides down, in a large, preferably nonstick, pan. Cook over medium heat, carefully reserving fat in a small bowl as it renders, until skin is crisp, 15-20 minutes. TIP: Lower heat if skin begins to brown too quickly. • While duck cooks, halve, peel, and thinly slice half the shallot (whole shallot for 4 servings). Toss sliced shallot in a separate small bowl with half the vinegar (you’ll use the rest in the next step), 1 tsp sugar (1½ tsp for 4), and a big pinch of salt and pepper.
• Strip thyme leaves from remaining sprigs until you have 1 tsp (2 tsp for 4 servings); roughly chop leaves. • Zest orange until you have 1 tsp (2 tsp for 4). Halve orange; squeeze juice from one orange half into a third small bowl. Peel remaining orange half; dice into ½-inch pieces. (For 4, squeeze juice from two orange halves; peel and dice remaining orange.) • To bowl with orange juice, add jam, stock concentrate, half the orange zest, and remaining vinegar.
• Once skin is crisp, flip duck and cook to desired doneness, 3-5 minutes more. Transfer to a cutting board to rest. • Add chopped thyme to same pan over medium heat and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds. • Stir in orange juice mixture and bring to a simmer. Cook until thickened, 2-3 minutes. • Stir in 1 TBSP butter until melted. Turn off heat.
• Heat pot with drained potatoes over medium-low heat. Mash with sour cream and 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4 servings) until smooth and creamy, adding splashes of reserved potato cooking liquid as needed. • Stir in reserved duck fat to taste. Season with salt and pepper. • Keep covered off heat until ready to serve.
• In a large bowl, combine shallot pickling liquid, mustard, a large drizzle of olive oil, remaining orange zest, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss with arugula, pickled shallot, diced orange, and almonds. Season with salt and pepper. • Slice duck crosswise. Divide between plates along with salad and mashed potatoes. Spoon sauce over duck and serve.
Duck is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165º.