Duck Tacos

I love the process of cooking.  I love slow-cooked or roasted dinners, complicated dishes, meals that require overnight brining or marinating...most times, I feel like the longer a meal takes, the better it tastes; the more work a dish requires, the more love I put into it.  Unfortunately, like most working adults, my schedule doesn't really allow me to make time- and work-intensive meals, other than on the weekends or holidays (or snow days!!).  So, throughout my very short cooking career, I've tried to build a repertoire of simple and quick meals that are delicious and filling.  I've just added another one to the list: duck tacos from fellow DC food blogger, My Husband Cooks.  I decided not to make the accompanying corn salsa (although it looks delicious) because it would have required another trip to the store - I already had flour tortillas, shredded Mexican cheese, guacamole and a tomato.  The result was a go-to dinner that I will be dreaming about all week.

Click below to see the recipe!

List of ingredients:
1 duck breast
1 tbsp. salt
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chipotle powder
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
 Flour tortillas
Whatever toppings you like

First, I scored the fat on the duck breast, meaning I cut a few slits in the skin, all the way to the meat (but not into it). 

I then mixed together all the rub ingredients, then patted the mixture onto the duck, making sure to get spices in the slits I just made.  I covered the breast and let it sit about 20 minutes.

 

Next, I preheated the oven to about 350 degrees.  I heated a pan over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes, then placed the breast skin-side down in the pan, letting it cook until the fat was rendered down, about 4 minutes. I flipped the breast over and threw the whole pan in the oven.  At this point in the cooking process, my tiny kitchen smelled like heaven - if heaven involved the aroma of cumin and chipotle peppers.

After about 15 minutes, I removed the breast from the pan onto my cutting board, covered it, and let it rest an additional 5 minutes - this is the hardest part of the recipe, honestly.  Then I cut the breast into strips.

 

I warmed a tortilla in a pan over medium heat, just about a minute a side, then loaded the tortilla up with the fragrant, juicy duck and topped it with guacamole (store-bought, for shame!), cheese and chopped tomato.

Yum.  LOVED this recipe.  I don't usually cook duck at home, but this flavor-packed, no-sweat recipe will have me coming back for more.