Magret de Canard with balsamic shallot sauce

Credit for this recipe goes to Jonathan Jean. His recipe is here: https://recipes.anovaculinary.com/recipe/magret-de-canard-et-sa-sauce-echalotes-balsamique. This is my retelling of the recipe in English, plus sharing a few of my own modifications (including that I cook it at a slightly lower temperature). The balsamic-shallot sauce makes more than what is needed for the duck. I like to use leftover sauce as a salad dressing. If I'm only cooking for one, I make the sauce for the both parts, and before putting the duck in the bag, I cut it in half and put half in a bag in the circulator and half in a bag in the refrigerator.

Author

David Swenson

Trained as a chemist, though my work is all computers. Cooking lets me pretend to I'm in a lab again!

Prep Time: 00:00

Recipe Time: 02:00

Temperature : 133F / 56.1C

Ingredients

• 1 magret de canard
• 2-3 shallots
• 1.5-2 oz balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Set your Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 133ºF / 56.1ºC
2. Cut a cross-hatch pattern into the skin of the duck. This helps to release the fat. Salt the skin side only.
3. Cook the skin side of the duck in a very hot pan for about 1 minute. The fat will be used to make the sauce, but sometimes there's enough that you can keep some aside to use as a cooking fat later.
4. Salt and pepper both sides of the duck, seal in a vacuum bag, and place in the sous-vide circulator for 2 hours.
5. Dice the shallots and sauté them in the duck fat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add vinegar and honey.

Finishing Steps

1. Remove the duck from the bag and dry thoroughly with a paper towel.
2. Sear the duck in a very hot pan, skin side down, for a minute or two. Then sear the meat side for just a few moments.
3. To serve, slice into pieces 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Spoon a line of the sauce down the center of the duck. I like to serve this with sliced cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.