Recipes › Mizuna › Seared Duck Breast with Mizuna, Blood Orange and Walnut
Seared Duck Breast with Mizuna, Blood Orange and Walnut
A proper restaurant-quality salad that belongs on a weeknight table. Sliced pink duck breast rests on a generous pile of mizuna dressed in a blood orange and sherry vinegar vinaigrette, with toasted walnuts for crunch and richness. The peppery bitterness of mizuna is the ideal counterpoint to fatty duck — it lifts the whole dish and stops it from feeling heavy.
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Ingredients
- 200 g Mizuna, washed and dried
- 4 duck breasts, skin scored in a crosshatch pattern, patted dry
- 3 blood oranges, 2 segmented, pith and skin removed; 1 juicednavel oranges work well outside blood orange season
- 60 g walnuts, roughly broken
- 1½ tbsp sherry vinegarred wine vinegar works fine
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp runny honey
- 1 tsp flaky sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper, freshly ground
Contains: mustard, nuts, sulphites.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C fan. Toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan over medium heat for 4 minutes, tossing regularly, until they smell nutty and are just starting to colour. Tip onto a plate to cool.About 4 min
- Season the duck breasts generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Place them skin-side down in a cold, heavy ovenproof frying pan — no oil needed. Set over medium-low heat and leave undisturbed for 10 minutes. The fat will render slowly and the skin will turn deep golden and crisp.About 10 min
- Flip the duck breasts onto the flesh side and cook for 2 minutes, then transfer the pan to the oven for 6 minutes for medium-pink. Remove from the oven, transfer the duck to a board skin-side up and leave to rest for 5 minutes.About 13 min
- While the duck rests, make the dressing. Whisk together the blood orange juice, sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard and honey in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in the olive oil until emulsified. Season with a pinch of salt and taste — it should be sharp, a little sweet and punchy.About 3 min
- Toss the mizuna with just enough dressing to lightly coat the leaves — about two-thirds of it — and divide between four plates. Scatter over the blood orange segments and toasted walnuts.About 2 min
- Slice each duck breast at a slight angle into 5 or 6 pieces. Fan the slices over the dressed mizuna, drizzle the remaining dressing over the duck and serve immediately.About 2 min
Tips
- Starting the duck in a cold pan is the single most important thing for crispy skin — a hot pan seizes the fat and you never get the same result.
- Rest the duck properly — 5 minutes minimum. Slice too soon and all the juices run out onto the board.
- Dress the mizuna at the very last moment, just before plating, so it stays perky rather than going limp.
Ring the changes
- Swap duck for skin-on chicken thighs — increase oven time to 20 minutes and check they are cooked through.
- Replace walnuts with toasted hazelnuts if you prefer, or leave the nuts out entirely for a nut-free dish.
Keeping it
The dressed salad does not keep well. Store cooked duck breasts separately, wrapped in foil, in the fridge for up to 2 days and slice cold — they are excellent on a fresh batch of dressed mizuna.
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