Name: Seared Duck Breast with Cherries and Port Sauce
Yield: Makes 2 servings
Ingredients: 2 5-to 6-ounce duck breast halves or one 12-to 16-ounce duck breast half; 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) chilled butter, divided; 1/4 cup finely chopped shallot (about 1 large); 1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth; 8 halved pitted sweet red cherries, fresh or frozen, thawed; 2 tablespoons tawny Port; 1 tablespoon orange blossom honey

Why it works: Orange and honey are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,068 recipes. Both carry pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Seared Duck Breast with Cherries and Port Sauce

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients

2 5-to 6-ounce duck breast halves or one 12-to 16-ounce duck breast half
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) chilled butter, divided
1/4 cup finely chopped shallot (about 1 large)
1/2 cup low-salt chicken broth
8 halved pitted sweet red cherries, fresh or frozen, thawed
2 tablespoons tawny Port
1 tablespoon orange blossom honey

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

824Calories

53 gProtein

44 gFat

56 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Duck	100g cooked with skin	337
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cherry	1 cup (138g)	87
Honey	1 tbsp (21g)	64
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Shallot	1 tbsp minced (10g)	7

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By epicurious. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Orange + honeytop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,068 recipes

Shared aroma: pinene (pine, turpentine).
Butter + honeytop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,327 recipes

Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
Shallot + orangetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together220 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Butter + chickentop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,902 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Butter + shallottop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,426 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, shallot, chicken, honey):

Coconutfits better
Grapefits better
Lemonfits better
Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, shallot, chicken, honey. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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