About Duck. Recipe: Chilled Honey Dijon Grilled Duckling Pear Salad

Nutrition Information About Duckling

Duckling Has Half The Fat of Chicken

The results of a recent nutrient analysis of White Pekin duckling, conducted by Corning Hazleton Laboratories of Madison, Wisconsin for The Duckling Council are: a 3.5 ounce serving of skinless duckling breast has half the fat of the same amount of skinless chicken breast (2 grams compared to 4 grams).

Skinless duckling breast has 132 calories per serving-less calories than the same amount of turkey and chicken-and less than 1 gram of saturated fat. The analytical data proves that skinless duckling breast is an excellent source of iron, providing 5 milligrams per serving. This is more than skinless turkey breast, skinless chicken breast and beef tenderloin, which supply 2, 1, and 4 milligrams, respectively.

This data marks a new milestone in providing a highly nutritious, low fat poultry alternative for today's health-oriented, active lifestyle. It represents a significant nutritional improvement over duckling products available on the market over a decade ago. Ongoing improvements have been made in the breeding and feeding of ducklings in the United States using optimal feed ingredients with no artificial additives. As a result, duckling producers have succeeded in producing a product that has less fat and more lean meat than ever before.

Duck Techniques

To prepare skinless duckling breast

Grilling & Broiling

Grilling is one of the more common ways to prepare duckling. Over medium-high heat, grill each side of the breast for 4 minutes. Then turn again and grill each side for an additional 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

For broiling , follow the same guidelines.

Sauté

Pre-heat sauté pan with 2 tbsp. cooking oil. Over medium-high heat, cook breast 4 to 6 minutes per side.

To prepare duckling breast with skin

Conventional oven

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Broil or grill duckling breast over medium heat skin side down for about 7 minutes. Turn and cook flesh side down for 2 minutes. Transfer to oven and bake skin side up to desired doneness (10 to 12 minutes).

Quick tips

Thaw frozen duckling breast in the refrigerator.
When cooked, the internal temperature should register between 165 degrees F for medium and 180 degrees F for well done.
Allow prepared duckling breast to rest 3 to 4 minutes before slicing. This equalizes the meat temperature which prevents excess moisture loss during cutting.

Chilled Honey Dijon
Grilled Duckling Pear Salad

Ingredients

Skinless Duckling Breasts—6-5 ounce breasts
Salt—As needed
Black Pepper —As needed
Rose Pears, cut into 1/2" wedges—36 wedges
Mixed Salad Greens—12 ounces
Fat Free Honey Dijon Salad Dressings—3 to 5 ounces
Pecan Pieces, Toasted—6 Tbs.

Preparation

Season duckling with salt and pepper. Preheat broiler/grill. On medium high heat, grill each side of the skinless breast for 4 minutes. Turn and grill each side for an additional 2 minutes. Cool immediately. When ready to serve, cut into diagonal slices.

Lay crescent-shaped pear slices on a sheet pan or aluminum foil lightly coated with vegetable oil spray. Top pear slices with vegetable oil spray (4 sprays). Place in oven at 425 degrees F for 7 minutes on each side until golden brown.

Toss greens with dressing. Divide evenly among six dinner plates. Arrange six pear wedges around edge of each salad. Overlap duckling slices forming a circle on top to each salad. Sprinkle with pecans. Serve immediately.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

Serving Size 252g
Calories 260
Calories from Fat 70
Total Fat 8g
Saturated Fat 1g
Total Carbohydrate 21g
Protein 28 g

Provided by The Duckling Council

This page originally published as a FoodDay article in 1997.