Sous Vide Duck Breast with Orange and Cranberry Sauce

After working with our home-made sous vide rig for a few weeks now, we have finally made a small upgrade to our kitchen. We found a 'controller' on eBay for about $100. This wonderful little device works in conjunction with our crock-pot by overriding the built in temperature control of the crock-pot providing us with a wide range of programmable constant temperatures to choose from.


Sous Vide Marinade

2 Tablespoons dried cranberries
1/4 Teaspoon sugar
1/4 Teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 Teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Before cooking the duck we removed the skins and set them aside. We seasoned the breasts prior to cooking with dried cranberries, sugar, salt and pepper. The duck was cooked at 130 degrees fahrenheit for 8 hours. While the duck was cooking the skin was cooked under a bacon press in a medium sauce pan on a low heat until all of the fat had rendered out. Duck fat is way to expensive at the store to let any go to waste, so all but 2 tablespoons was saved in the freezer. The remaining 2 tablespoons were set aside for later use with brussel sprouts.

Orange Cranberry Sauce
1 Cup orange juice
1/4 Cup dried cranberries
1 Teaspoon sugar
Pinch of salt

Mix all of the ingredients in a small sauce pot and bring to a boil. Cook the mixture on medium high for several minutes, or until the orange juice has taken on much of the color from the cranberries. Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Puree and strain the mixture. Set the sauce aside until the duck is ready.


To go with the duck we had brussel sprouts sauteed in the reserved duck fat with mashed potatoes. This is the dish that made me change my mind about brussel sprouts once and for all. The sprouts are somewhat time consuming, in that we peel the individual whole leaves off before cooking. Sautee the leaves in the duck fat on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes. Salt to taste and serve.











For the potatoes we tried something a little bit different. The potatoes were cubed and boiled in a mixture of milk, butter, salt and pepper. You only need enough milk to cover the potatoes and about 1 tablespoon of butter. Cook the potatoes until they are fork tender. Strain the potatoes, reserving some of the milk mixture, and mash. While you are mashing the potatoes add a dollop of sour cream and as much milk as you need to make the potatoes creamy. Salt and pepper to taste.

While the whole meal was delicious, the duck was the obvious star of the show. The orange cranberry sauce was amazing with the duck and also mixed well with the potatoes. We used dried cranberries from Trader Joe's but i'm sure that any dried cranberries will do the trick. As far as the sous vide goes, I am not yet convinced that the duck needs to cook for the whole eight hours, but am also not yet experienced to know for sure.

Mark's Ribs

Submitted by my brother and his wife who now live in Houston - these ribs definitely got the Texas stamp of approval:


I defy anyone to figure out how to make better ribs without a smoker. If done right, these will come right off the bone with just a little tug. It really upset some of our Texan friends when us Yankees turned out tasty, tender ribs like this without some ridiculous smoker contraption. I hope you enjoy and when you see Mark, thank him.

Recipe is for 5-8 people depending on how hungry they are.

8 lbs. ribs - St. Louis cut or spare ribs work best, but any pork rib cut will do

Dry Rub
2 Cups Brown Sugar
4 Tbsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Garlic powder
2 Tbsp Onion powder

Wet
30oz. bottle Ketchup
1/2 Cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Cup Brewed Coffee
1/4 Cup Orange Juice Concentrate
2 Tbsp Fresh cracked pepper

Rinse and dry the ribs then place them on large foil lined pan(s). Mix the dry rub ingredients together, removing lumps, and apply to the ribs. You will have more rub than ribs, don’t worry, we’ll use it later do not get rid of it. Let the ribs sit for about an hour.

After ribs have sat, take them to the bbq. Preheat the bbq on medium high heat. Once the bbq is hot get the ribs on there, about 5 or 6 minutes a side until the the rub gets crusty and the ribs just start to sear. The sugar in the rub may blacken a bit, which is ok, but do not burn the ribs. Once a crust has formed, put the ribs back on the foiled pan, cover with foil and place in 300 degree oven for at least 2 hours, closer to 3. While baking, combine the wet rub ingredients and the rest of dry rub in a large saucepan. Bring this to a gentle boil then reduce to a simmer for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the ribs are done in the oven we’re going back to the bbq on medium high heat again. Before putting the ribs on, slather the bbq sauce on one side and put that side down on the grill. While that gets crispy and gooey, slather the other side of the ribs with sauce and flip. This takes 2-4 minutes a side. Some blackening may occur, but be sure not to burn the ribs under any circumstances. When finished, place the ribs on a platter and cover with more sauce. You should have plenty of leftover sauce which can be served with the ribs.