Our store finally had duck!  The kids had been asking for it for awhile now but I couldn’t find it so they were very excited when I came home with one.  I wanted to do something a bit different than the usual roast duck with roasted potatoes and we had some andouille sausage to use up.  It has some kick to it but our kids seem to do ok with a bit of heat so I figured it would be worth a try.

First I had to butcher the duck.  Since I only needed one breast, everything else gets frozen for later.  Including the bones so I can make stock like this turkey stock.

In a small skillet I put a bit of olive oil and got it nice and hot.  I seasoned the duck breast with salt and pepper on both sides then put the breast skin down in the oil.

I kept the heat up for a couple of minutes to sear the skin then I turned it down to render the fat.  This takes several minutes depending on how much fat you want to render.  Once it is rendered enough I turned the duck over to sear the meat side for a couple of minutes.

I like to make sure all sides are seared before removing.

This gets set aside in a warm spot to rest while I make the rest of the dish.  Because there is a lot of fat that gets rendered out I save some fat for later use.  Otherwise this would be a very fatty greasy dish!

While the duck was searing I prepped the rest of the ingredients.  I chopped mushrooms, onion, garlic, and the andouille sausage.

This all gets tossed into the skillet with the duck fat and sauteed.  Once this heats through I added a cup of turkey stock.  Turns out I was out of duck stock!  As it comes up to a simmer I added some frozen peppers from last year’s garden.  I also chopped a tomato and some cilantro and added those to the dish.  I also added a few splashes of lime juice to brighten the dish and a bit of creole seasoning.

While this was simmering I sliced the duck.  As you can see it is still a bit rare which is good because it gets added to the dish and you don’t want the duck overcooked.

Let it simmer for a few minutes then serve over rice.  I did rice pilaf for this dish.

The kids loved it.  Though our son’s face was a picture when the spice hit the back of the throat!  But he said he loved the flavours and how they are layered.  Not bad for an 8 year old.  😉

On a side note.  I’ve noticed that I’ll get a note on my phone of a comment left for me but when I go look for it to reply I can’t find it. If I don’t respond to a comment it is because I can’t see it to say anything.  I hope I can get this sorted because I like the conversations!