Duck with Ginger Pear Sauce
Duck with Ginger Pear Sauce
I love the way duck tastes when served with pears. Duck, with its dark, rich meat really works well with all sorts of fruit. I’ve made sauces and glazes for duck from cherries, prunes, mangoes, peaches and of course, oranges. Since I had several very ripe pears, and a duck I was roasting, I thought I’d try them together. Oh yum!! I could see serving the ginger pear sauce with other meats, like pork or lamb or with chicken or turkey.
Ginger Pear Sauce
3-4 ripe pears
¼ c. apple cider vinegar
2 T. brown sugar
2 T. water
2 t. grated fresh ginger- or 1 teaspoon dried ginger powder
1 t. hot sauce, or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Peel, core and chop pears. Set in a saucepan with remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cook, over low heat for about 10 minutes, or until pears start to soften. Makes 1½ -2 cups. Warm sauce when ready to serve.
To roast the duck: This was a locally grown duck so not as fatty as ducks I get at the grocery store. For the very fatty ducks you need to score the skin and trim off extra fat. If you don’t, the skin won’t get crispy and isn’t very appetizing. Still, I wanted a nice high heat to crisp up the skin. I placed it on a rack in a roasting pan. I did cut up an onion and a small orange and placed them in the cavity. Sprinkled generously with salt and pepper and placed the duck in a preheated 450 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then I turned the heat down to 425 until the duck was done. In this case, it was a smallish duck and cooked in about 65 minutes. It is OK if the duck meat is a little pink. Kind of preferred a little pink by most, but cook it to your own comfort level. Let duck rest 10-15 minutes before cutting into serving pieces. Warm the pear sauce and serve with the duck.
Right out of the oven
