•2 skin-on duck breasts

•2 pears

•some chilli

•2 pinches of Sichuan pepper

•freshly ground black pepper

•2 spoons of honey

•0.5 dl Szent István Korona Cabernet Sauvignon dry rosé wine

•2 cloves of garlic

•salt

  

With a sharp knife, score the skin on the duck breasts angularly in both directions. Then score again crossways, a bit deeper, about 1 cms apart, to mark where to slice when the breast is done. First, start frying the side with the skin on, without any oil or fat or spices. The skin will quickly release its fat, and we can use that to fry the other side of the breast as well. After frying both sides, take it out of the pan, wrap in kitchen foil and let it rest and cool down slowly.

In the meantime, use another pan to prepare the pear chutney. Toast two pinches of Sichuan pepper, add the honey and start heating it, but be careful not to overdo it. The honey must get a nice, slightly brownish colour (right after it begins to mildly foam). When it’s done, add the pear, previously peeled and chopped to small cubes the size of a dice.

Add the wine, the freshly ground black pepper and the sliced chilli (if it’s too hot, remove the seeds). Put a lid on, and leave it to stew for just a few minutes. I usually don’t stew it for too long, because I prefer the pear to be a bit crunchy, but it’s up to you (and the pear)! While the pear is stewing, unwrap the duck breasts, slice them where you marked previously, re-heat the duck fat, and put the slices in the pan with the very finely sliced garlic. This time, the slices don’t have to be fried, only re-heated, so just turn them over quickly, and they’re done. The garlic helps a lot to make perfect timing, because when they start to brown, the duck breast and the garlic must be taken out from the pan immediately.

When the pear is cooked, take the lid off, and cook until the excess liquid evaporates. The duck breast must be served immediately with pear chutney, and a glass of Szent István Korona rosé.