Drinks advice · Beer and food

Duck breast with stewed pears and Trappistes Rochefort 8

Duck breast with a scored skin that starts in a cold pan and slowly renders, with small braised pears alongside. With a dark Trappist beer.

Back to the recommendations

Bottle of Trappistes Rochefort 8, beer

From the shelf

The bottle

Trappistes Rochefort 8 comes from Rochefort in Belgium and is 9.2 percent ABV. The bottle holds 33 centilitres. It is a dark, heavy Trappist beer that re-ferments in the bottle: that gives plenty of carbonation, notes of dried fruit and caramel from the dark malt, and a warm finish.

Trappistes Rochefort 8

The combination

Why this works together

Stewed pears are sweet and lightly spicy from the cinnamon and the cloves, and the dried fruit in a dark Trappist beer sits right next to that. Duck breast at the same time brings a lot of fat under the skin; this beer has its carbonation and its 9.2 percent ABV for that, which dissolve and remove that fat. That keeps a sweet garnish in balance next to fatty meat.

At the table

The dish

  • Before 4 people
  • Ready in 2 hours and 30 minutes
  • Type main course

What you need

  • 4 duck breast fillets
  • 6 stewing pears, peeled
  • 300 millilitres red berry juice
  • 100 grams granulated sugar
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3 cloves
  • 1 lemon
  • 800 grams of waxy potatoes
  • 30 grams butter
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper

How to make it

  1. Stand the pears upright in a pan that is just big enough, pour in the berry juice and top up with water until they are just covered.
  2. Add the sugar, the cinnamon stick, the cloves and two strips of lemon zest and bring everything to the boil.
  3. Let the pears stew for 2 hours over the lowest heat, until they are deep red and soft. Take them out and boil the liquid down to a syrupy sauce.
  4. Boil the potatoes until done in 20 minutes and keep them warm with a knob of butter.
  5. Score the skin of the duck breasts in a diamond pattern, just down to the meat, and sprinkle them with salt.
  6. Place the fillets skin side down in a cold frying pan and put it on medium heat. Let them fry for 8 to 10 minutes, pouring off the melted fat now and then.
  7. Turn the fillets and fry them for another 4 minutes on the meat side. Grind pepper over them.
  8. Let the meat rest for 5 minutes, slice it at an angle and serve the pears with the reduced sauce.

In the glass

Serving

Pour at 10 to 12 degrees into a goblet glass. Leave the bottle standing upright before opening, pour in one go and stop as soon as the sediment reaches the neck.

Everything about Trappistes Rochefort 8Back to Drinks advice from ’t Bockje

Wij verkopen geen alcohol aan personen onder de 18 jaar. NIX18