Ken wanted to try his hand at a Smoked Duck with a Cherry Compote and it turned out so very good. We will be remaking this recipe into a salad for Easter and I will tell you how that turned out. He wanted a cherry compote of some sort so I can up with that recipe for him.
Use a very plain cracker as not to take away from the duck. Have I convinced you to buy a smoker yet!!! Bon Appetite!!!

Smoked Duck with a Cherry Compote
Ken wanted to try his hand at a smoked duck breast and it turned out so very good. We will be remaking this recipe into a salad for Easter!
Ingredients
- Brine for 2 duck breasts:
- one quart apple juice
- 1/4 cup Kosher salt
- 1 bay leaf, crushed
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 2/3 tsp. ground pepper
- Cherry Compote:
- 1 Tbsp. canola oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 7 oz. red wine
- 5 oz. chicken stock
- 1 tsp. dried crushed rosemary (I crush this in the palm of my hand)
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp. cherry jam
- 20 of your favorite crackers
Instructions
- Mix the ingredients making sure the salt is dissolved.
- Place the duck breasts in the brine for 8-12 hours in a Ziploc bag. Turning once or twice.
- After brining take duck breasts out and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Score the fat side of the each breast with a sharp knife and in a hot skillet with a small amount of oil sear fat side down for 4-5 min.
- Place duck breasts fat side up in a 210-225F smoker for 1 1/2 hour. You can use apple wood for this recipe.
- This should give you a medium-rare breast. If you would like it well done (I don’t know why) you can cook it to 170F.
- Slice thinly and serve with the cherry compote.
- Place all ingredients except cherry jam into a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer until reduced and thickened.
- Add cherry jam and serve with the sliced duck
For the Duck Breast
For the Cherry Compote:
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving:Calories: 97Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 12mgSodium: 1438mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 0gSugar: 7gProtein: 3g
Recipe calculation was provided by Nutritionix and is estimation only. If you need nutritional calculations for medical reasons, please use a source that you trust.
Comments & Reviews
Carole says
Can’t beat duck and cherries! Thanks for linking this up to Food on Friday. Cheers