Sous vide duck breast

by MaomaoMom

Google “Sous vide” (French for “under vacuum”) and you will find 10 million search results. It involves cooking food in sealed plastic bags in a water bath at lower (50~70oC) and constant temperatures for long periods of time. This technique was used by French chefs in the 1960s and 70s. It has become increasingly popular at gourmet restaurants because it yields much higher succulence and avoids overcooking. Even Iron Chefs use this technique on TV shows. There is even an expensive water-oven appliance SousVide Supreme for this purpose.

Since I have an electric pressure cooker with a “keep warm” function which maintains temperature around 65oC, I decided to try this technique out. Results are pretty good.

Prepare Time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 38+4minutes

Level: medium

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

1) 2 large boneless duck breast halves 480g, skin-on;

2) 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons freshly minced garlic, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 1/3 teaspoon dry thyme, 1/3 teaspoon peppercorn;

3) 1 tablespoon vegetable oil;

Apricot sauce (optional):

4) 1 large ripe apricot, peeled and cored, mash with 2 tablespoons water;

5) 2 teaspoons sugar.

Directions

1: Clean duck breasts then rub on all ingredients 2. Cover and chill in the fridge for 2 hours. Rinse off spices and place duck breasts in a Ziploc bag, remove air and seal it.

2: Add water in the InstantPot up to 7-cup mark. Leave the lid open, turn on power and press “Keep warm” button. After 20 minutes, place the Ziploc bag in the water bath for 35~40 minutes.



3: Remove the bag from the water and pat dry duck breasts. Sear skin side of duck breasts in a non-stick frying pan with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil at medium-high heat until golden. Turn over and cook for another 20 seconds.

4: Slice the cooked duck breasts and serve with apricot sauce.

5: Apricot sauce: mix ingredients 4 and 5 in a small pot, bring to boil on high heat then simmer 5 minutes at low heat.

Happy Canada Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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