Serving medium rare to medium slices of duck breast has been the rage in restaurants from coast to coast for years. About 10 years ago, I met Burt Culver, CEO of Culver Duck Farms. Burt has always had a mission to teach chefs how to cook duck breasts so that the meat remains medium rare to medium while still developing a beautifully crispy, and non-chewy skin. The whole secret is to cook the breast slowly on its skin so that the fat has a chance to render, or melt out of the skin. Once the skin has lost much of its fat, it will not only shrink in size, but will then become crispy.
Patience is indeed a virtue.