Black Pepper Crusted Duck Breast and Braised Legs with Roasted Apples

Note: You can clean the duck breasts up to two days in advance. Wrap well and store in the refrigerator. The apples can be prepared one day in advance and stored in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator. Reheat in the oven while the duck breasts are cooking.

1. Clean the duck breasts of any excess fat and silver skin- the slivery-looking fan of nerves on the underside of the breast. Remove the tenders from the breasts. The tender is a strip of meat with a silver stripe of tendon that can be easily pulled away from the breast with your fingers. Sauté them separately for a snack while you are preparing dinner. Trim the edges of any overhanging skin and tidy them up. Score the skin almost to, but not into, the breast meat in a crisscross diamond pattern. This will help render the fat and crisp the skin.

2. Remove the thigh bone from the duck legs by running your knife down each side of the thigh bone. Cut through the joint where it meets the drumstick with a small sharp knife.  Use a towel to grab the end of the bone and twist to free it from the meat. You may need to use the tip of your knife to scrape some of the meat away to free it. Lay the leg skin side down and make two cuts on each side of the drumstick bone to separate the meat a bit and allow penetration of the salt and herbs and spices. Repeat with the remaining legs.

3. Lay the legs skin side up on a cutting board or sheet pan. Sprinkle each leg with ¼ teaspoon of salt and ¼  teaspoon of cracked black pepper over the legs. Turn the legs over and salt the meat side with ¼ teaspoon of salt then ¼ teaspoon cracked pepper. Let the legs rest for 20 minutes at room temp before cooking. Or wrap and refrigerate overnight. Bring back to room temp before cooking.

4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

5. Heat a medium sauté pan over medium heat so that the pan is warm but not too hot. The duck legs should sizzle when they are placed in the pan but not smoke. Place the legs in the pan with the skin side down. Render the skin until it is nice and golden. Turn legs over and brown the opposite side.

6. Flip legs back over and  increase the heat. Add the wine and reduce to almost dry. Add the stock to the pan and bring to a boil, then add the thyme sprigs. Cover with parchment paper or with a loosely cracked lid and place in the preheated oven. Cook for 40 to 50 minutes until the legs are tender. Remove the legs from the oven and reserve in the pan while you cook the breasts.

7. Heat a medium sauté pan over medium heat so that the pan is warm but not too hot. The breasts should sizzle when they are placed in the pan but not smoke. Press ½ teaspoon of cracked peppercorns into the fatty skin of each duck breast and season well with salt on both sides.

8. Place the breasts skin side down in the pan and begin rendering off the fat. Be sure that the fat in the pan doesn’t smoke. Reduce the heat if necessary. As the pan fills with fat, carefully pour it into a heatproof container so the breasts do not deep fry in their fat (see Note). Hold the breasts in place with a carving fork or metal spatula. Keep rendering the skin side until no more fat is released and the skin is crisp, about 8 minutes.

9. Turn the breasts over and place the pan in the preheated oven to roast for 5 minutes for medium-rare; cook longer for less rare. Remove the breasts from the pan and let them rest for at least 10 minutes to allow the juices to distribute evenly throughout the meat before slicing.

10. To serve, slice the breasts starting at the small pointed end. Slice the meat at a 45-degree angle thinly across the grain. If you see long striations of muscle in the slice, cut it the opposite way or taste a piece. It should be tender, not chewy. If it’s too chewy, slice it at the opposite angle.

11. Remove the legs from their pan and place on a serving plate. Add the apples and their juices to the leg pan. Stir to combine the roasting juices and season to taste with salt and pepper.

12. Add the sliced duck to the plate and spoon the apples around. Drizzle the roasting juices over the duck.