Duck breast fillet with caramelized pears

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 liter of water
• 250 g sugar
• 1 lemon(s)
• 3 bulb(s)
• 3 duck breast fillets
• 550 ml red wine, dry
• 2 tsp powdered sugar
• 5 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 shallot(s)
• 2 carnations
• 1 cinnamon stick(s)
• e.g. butter flakes, ice-cold
• 1 tsp brown sugar, for sprinkling
• 50 g butter
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 25 minutes

Make a light syrup from 1 liter of water, sugar, and lemon zest. Rinse the pears in hot water, dry them thoroughly, and slice them thinly. Place them in the hot syrup and cook for about 4 minutes. Let them cool in the syrup. Rinse the duck breast fillets and pat them dry. Remove the skin and tendons from the underside of the fillets. Place the fillets skin-side down in a cold pan and fry over high heat for about 4-5 minutes, skimming off any excess fat. Turn the meat over and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Remove and wrap in aluminum foil. Let it rest in a preheated oven at 160°C (top/bottom heat) or 140°C (convection oven) for about 17 minutes, depending on the thickness (one duck breast fillet weighed 320g). Boil down 300ml of red wine until reduced by a third. Sprinkle the powdered sugar in the center of a second heavy-bottomed saucepan and caramelize over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and let it simmer slightly. Peel the shallot and dice finely. Add the shallot and the remaining vinegar and reduce by half. Add the remaining red wine, cloves and cinnamon and reduce by half again. Add the reduced red wine and the meat juices collected from the aluminum foil to the sauce and simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes. Season the sauce generously with salt and pepper. Whisk in ice-cold butter, season again and pass through a sieve. Remove the pears from the syrup and pat dry with kitchen paper. Heat the butter in a pan. Add the pears and heat briefly. Sprinkle the cut sides of the pears with sugar and caramelize briefly in the butter. Now add salt and pepper to the duck fillets. Cut into diagonal slices, serve with the caramelized pears and cover with the sauce.