Canned Cherries Are The Easy First Step To A Luxurious Duck Glaze
Dating back to the conception of the Peking duck in the 13th century, duck has been an indulgent meat selection for thousands of years. Duck meat is incomparable with its rich taste and juicy texture. Moreover, with a deep fruity glaze, its flavor is honed. Canard or Caneton aux Cérises translates from French to roast duckling with cherries. It's a luxurious dish that melds the incredible flavors of both sweet fruit and fatty duck meat to produce a truly decadent meal. However, you do not need to fly to France to try this. It can easily be made at home with the inclusion of canned cherries.
You could make many mistakes when cooking duck, but one that may slip your mind entirely is not pairing it with a cherry glaze. Instead of waiting for cherry season, you can create this wonderful dish all year round with the canned version. Add canned cherries in syrup to a fried shallot, and thicken with cornflour slurry. With only three ingredients required, this glaze is effortless and quick. No one would ever guess it's this easy to make when paired with a duck.
A decadent cherry sauce
Begin by draining a 15-ounce can of cherries through a sieve and reserving the syrup. A half can of cherries is sufficient to create enough sauce for two duck breasts. Divide the cherries, storing the other half for another time, then cut them in half with a knife and reintroduce them to half of the reserved syrup. Thinly slice a shallot and sauté it in a small pan with oil. Once it's tender, add in the cherries and syrup to the pan. While this mixture heats up, make a cornflour slurry in a separate bowl by mixing 1 tablespoon of cornflour into 1 tablespoon of cold water. Incorporate this into the cherry mixture and continue stirring until the sauce reaches the desired thickness. At this point, the sauce is ready to serve.
It's a handy idea to make the sauce while you let the duck breasts rest (which should take at least 5 minutes). Resting allows the fibers inside the breast time to "relax and reabsorb those internal juices," according to D'Artagnan. If you're wondering about the difference between canned fruit in light syrup and heavy syrup, fruit in light syrup will have a thinner syrup consistency, while fruit in heavy syrup will be juicier, thicker, and more decadent. It depends on whether you want the glaze and fruit to be lighter or heavier when pairing with the duck; there's no trouble in experimenting; just taste it first before pouring it all over.
A zesty cherry twist
If you prefer a more floral glaze, combine canned cherries with orange juice and zest, lemon juice, port, ginger, and soy sauce in a medium-sized pan. Place over high heat, boil, then reduce and simmer for 5 minutes. Instead of combining the cornflour with water, stir in two tablespoons of cherry syrup or juice. Then mix this with the cherry sauce on low heat until thick and sticky. This is equally a decadent sauce but will play on some of those Asian flavors from the soy sauce and ginger to bring you a masterful glaze that complements the beautiful meatiness of the duck.
You may wonder if it's truly worth using canned over fresh, and it's genuinely more convenient for several reasons. The first is that canned cherries can be bought with the pits already removed; eliminating this laborious process saves precious time in the kitchen. As well as this, fresh cherries can be more expensive and require the sauce to simmer for longer to break down. By this point, you've lost the fresh essence and texture that made the fresh cherries worth it in the first place. After trying this simple glaze, you'll find that deglazing the pan with dairy is equally as effortless. Easy cooking and easy cleaning, what more could you ask for?