clementine and cranberry honeyed duck

my darling clementines!

I may have been complaining about being sick of Christmassy food, but this dish is redolent with Christmas fruits and spices. I put it together to use up a bowl of fragrant Christmas fruits. 


Loathe to throw them away (I had actually just bought them for decoration) and pairing the juice with leftover fresh cranberries lurking around in the bottom of the fridge. Adding lime juice and ginger helped to cut through the sweetness of the clementines and honey and adds extra zing.

Serves 4

Skill level: Easy

ingredients:
4 x duck breast fillets (about 180g each)
5 x clementines (or tangerines or satsumas)
1 x lime (juice and zest)
a knob of fresh ginger, grated (about a 4cm length)
3 tbsp honey (preferably clear, runny honey)
a handful of fresh cranberries or 2 tbsp dried cranberries
1 x cinnamon stick, broken in half
salt and freshly ground black pepper

directions:

1. Zest and juice the lime and 2 of the clementines. Make sure the zest is finely chopped.
2. Mix together the ginger, lime and clementine zest and juices.
3. Peel the remaining clementines and separate the segments. (Make sure that any bits of membrane and pith are removed)
4. Take the duck breasts and make a couple of slashes in the skin.
5. Pre-heat a large heavy-based frying pan and place the duck breasts, skin side down and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until the skin is well-browned. (You won't need to oil the pan since the duck will release fat into the pan).
6. Remove the duck and drain the pan of any of the fat.
7. Add the fruit juice mixture to the pan with the honey, together with the cinnamon stick. Stir to ensure the honey has dissolved. Simmer for1 to 2 minutes.
8. Add the duck breasts to the pan, skin side up, and continue to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. (If you don't like your duck slightly pink then you may want to cook for a bit longer).
9. Add the clementine segments to the pan for the last minute of cooking time and stir to ensure that they are well coated in sauce.
10. Slice the duck breasts and serve with the pan juices sprinkled over. 

tips:

• Lovely with dauphinoise potatoes and green beans or curly kale. A pumpkin and carrot purée would be nice as well.
• Replace the clementines with tangerines, mandarins or satsumas.
• Replace the dried cranberries with dried barberries.