Delight your guests with duck fillets paired with fresh fruit

When you invite guests for an elegant lunch or dinner in the summer, you wonder what to prepare to make it delicious and refined while avoiding spending half the day in a hot kitchen. That's when the idea of duck with fruit comes in handy.

Duck is a type of poultry we rarely choose. Chicken and turkey are more popular, partly due to their price. Duck is not cheap, but it is worth preparing for special occasions. Especially since duck fillets with fruit pair excellently and taste like a restaurant dish.

Duck, recognized as the most noble type of poultry, delights with a flavor that definitely distinguishes it from chicken or turkey. You can prepare the whole duck, in which young specimens weighing 3-4 pounds are recommended. Unfortunately, the roasting process is quite long, the apartment is heated up, and the ducks are challenging to divide elegantly. Therefore, a better choice is duck fillets.

Although combining meat with fruit is not very popular, it sticks with duck. Traditionally, these were apples or oranges. However, during the season of fresh fruits, it's worth refreshing this list. Consider cherry sauce, grilled peaches, rhubarb, and raspberries to pair with delicate duck breast fillets. It all depends on how open you and your guests are to new flavors. You can always safely go for apples or citrus fruits.

You can prepare duck fillets with fruits in two ways. The traditional way is to bake the meat with pieces of apples or oranges. Another way? Bake the duck and then serve it with a fruit sauce, such as cherry or raspberry. Every time, the basis is well-baked meat. Therefore, take the fillets out an hour before cooking to reach room temperature. Clean, wash, and score the skin. Place them in a pan skin-side down to render the fat. Then, turn them to the other side. Fillets prepared in this way can be baked in the oven.

Ingredients:

        
• 4 duck breasts
• 1.5 ounces of orange juice
• 4 tablespoons of oil
• Salt, pepper, honey, and favorite herbs to taste
• 3 apples or oranges

1. Rinse the duck fillets, pat dry with a paper towel, and score the skin in a crosshatch pattern with a knife.
2. Mix oil, honey, orange juice, spices, and herbs in a bowl. Place the fillets in the marinade and let them marinate for an hour.
3. On a dry pan, fry the duck on both sides for about 5 minutes each.
4. Transfer the duck fillets to an ovenproof dish, pour in the remaining marinade, and bake in an oven preheated to 350°F for about 20 minutes, then add fruit pieces.
5. Bake for another 25 minutes (or less, depending on how well done you like it).

You can also bake the duck without fruit and prepare a raspberry sauce.

Ingredients:

      
• 7 ounces of raspberries
• Less than a cup of red wine
• A tablespoon of honey
• Salt, pepper, ginger, and cinnamon to taste

      
1. Boil the wine with spices.
2. Add raspberries and cook for about 3 minutes.
3. Finally, add honey. Cook for a while longer on low heat to evaporate excess liquid.
4. Serve the baked duck fillets drizzled with the sauce.