1. Remove duck breast from fridge and allow to come to room temperature
2. Score (cut skin) of duck in three or four places
3. Season duck on both sides with salt, pepper and smoked paprika
4. Place duck – skin side down – in a non-stick or iron skillet and place on stove
5. Turn stove on to medium high heat (your duck should start from no heat)
6. Cook approximately 10 minutes or until fat has essentially dissolved and a crisp skin is left (you can check your duck as it cooks)
7. Turn heat up but not full
8. Turn duck and cook until meat side begins to brown (approximately 3-4 minutes)
9. Remove from heat and place skin side down on a baking rack approximately 4-5 minutes
10. Slice on a bias (diagonally)
11. Enjoy

For as long as man has dreamt of taking flight, there has been a duck recipe. But in truth, a duck recipe isn't so much a recipe as it is a means of culinary preparation or technique as – when we typically think of fowl, duck is something of – well – an odd. Chicken must be cooked through. Turkey, too. But duck, not so much. And the preparation of ye olde duck recipe is more similar to a steak recipe than it is to a chicken recipe.

The technical explanation is that duck is a dark meat possessed of tight muscle fibers while also having – typically – a ticker layer of fat than chicken which helps to insulate it so it can be cooked at a lower temperature. (The same can be said of quail and geese and once upon a rich, royal court, swan.) Accordingly, the process for cooking a duck is similar to that of a steak, meaning it can be served blue, rare or medium rare. In fact, there are duck tartare preparations – it can be served that rare.

There are laws – so, so many laws – around poaching a duck. For example, in French cuisine, one should only poach a duck in duck fat – a cooking process called, confit. Many, many, many things can be poached. Fish can be poached. Eggs can be poached. Chicken can be poached. Geese can be poached. And of course, duck can be poached. But think twice before you poach anything as laws against poaching date back to the monarchs of Medieval England, specifically the Norman kings who sought to protect game (and land) for their own use. Punishments for poaching could include fines or being sent to jail (gaol), maiming or even death. For wild game – including duck – these venerated laws exist up to and including today, efficiently managed by what we now call a hunting license. So, to summarize, if you poach a duck – even in duck fat – your goose could well be cooked.

If you must insist on poaching, try poaching potato sticks in duck fat at a very high heat. Your dinner guests will thank you. Effusively. To the point where it gets just a little bit uncomfortable. And knowing that, should you choose to poach your duck and you potatoes in duck fat, make a gravy and serve it with cheese curds as a shredded duck poutine – well, that's entirely up to you.

When it comes to serving your duck, think not steak or chicken, but pork. Much as pork loves applesauce, your duck recipe craves a sweet tart like plums, peaches, rhubarb or cherries.

We are cooking now, please wait for it to come out. It will be delicious.