Madhouse recipe : Duck breast with baharat and pomegranate molasses

My #KitchenClearout linky is all about using up things that are cluttering up the kitchen, often taking up valuable space in the freezer, the fridge and the kitchen cupboards, but this time I turned to my spice rack and found a tub of Baharat spice mix.

Baharat is a lovely fragrant but not spicy blend of black pepper, hot paprika, cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg. If you look closely, you'll see that the best before date on the tub was the end of April 2015 - oops. Spices don't go off though, they just lose some of their oomph, so I didn't mind using it up.

Duck breast with baharat and pomegranate molasses

ingredients :

duck breast 

baharat spices

pomegranate molasses

(you could have guessed that from the name of the recipe really !)

Use a sharp knife to cut a criss cross pattern on the fatty side of the duck breast. Place, fat side down, in a hot pan and cook on a high heat until the fat melts and the skin goes brown and crispy.

Pour the fat off into a mug and reserve for making fab roast potatoes à la Nigella Lawson. Sprinkle baharat liberally all over the top side of the duck breast then flip over and cook for a further 8 minutes or so (or longer, if you want it well done. Traditionally duck meat should be pink in the middle, but you can eat it however you like !)

Once both sides were cooked, I flipped it back over briefly to give the skin side some lovely colour. Leave to rest with a sheet of foil over the top for ten minutes to tenderise.

Cut into slices, drizzle with pomegranate molasses and serve with rice and vegetables. Any leftover duck can be eaten cold in a salad the next day.

For years, I never tried duck, convinced I wouldn't like it because I expected it to have a gamey taste, but it's actually very nice, not to mention quick and simple to prepare.

 Adding to this month's #KitchenClearout linky as it used up some out of date baharat spice.

If you fancy trying out some other duck recipes, how about Peking duck with noodles, duck à l'orange or Kamo No Teriyaki & Yakisoba (Teriyaki Duck with Soba Noodles).