National Duck Day: Diana Chan's Seared Duck breast with nashi pears, honey and star anise
<p dir="ltr">The family owned business and Australia’s leading duck producer Luv-a-Duck has partnered up with MasterChef alum and duck lover Diana Chan, to officially launch National Duck Day, which falls on Tuesday May 23rd, 2023. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Diana Chan is a Malaysian-Australian and won the 9th season of MasterChef in 2017. She has since become a well-known TV host, menu designer, product creator and restaurateur, turning her passion for food into her career.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;">Duck </span>breast with nashi pears, honey and star recipe</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Serves:</strong> 2</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Prep time:</strong> 10 mins </p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Cook time: </strong>45 mins</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong> INGREDIENTS: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">2 x Luv-A-Duck raw duck breasts </p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Salt to taste </p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>For the roasted pears: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">2 nashi pears, halved and cored 2 tbsp honey</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Juice of 1 lemon</p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">4 whole star anise pods </p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">1 tbsp dry vermouth or dry white wine </p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Garnish:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Micro herbs </p>
</li>
</ul>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>METHOD: </strong></p>
<ol>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Preheat the oven to 180C. Cut 4 pieces of baking paper and aluminium foil enough to cover the pears. </p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Dip the cut side of the pear in lemon juice (to prevent browning). </p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Place 1 star anise in the cored center of each pear. Drizzle 1 tablespoon honey over each star anise.Place a pear half, cut side up, on each piece of baking paper. And wrap with foil on the outside to cover. Twist the foil tightly around the top of each fruit to seal. </p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Place the pears on a baking tray and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the pears are tender. Remove from the oven and carefully unwrap each pear half. </p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">To cook the duck, make a few slits diagonally on the skin of the duck breasts about 2 cm apart. Be careful to not slice into the meat. Season liberally with salt. In a cold pan, add in the duck breasts skin side down and cook for 10-12 minutes to render the fat on low heat. Gradually turn the heat up from low to high. Turn the duck breast over and cook for another 5 minutes. Allow the duck breasts to rest for 5 minutes before slicing. </p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Add the liquid from the pears into the pan with all the duck fat and juices and mix to combine over low heat. </p>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1">
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">To assemble, slice each duck breast into three pieces diagonally. Place on a serving plate with the pears and drizzle over the pan juices over the duck.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p><em>Image credit: </em><em>Luv-a-Duck</em></p>
