Ingredients (for 2)

• 2 duck breasts (approx 200g)
• 3 oranges
• large knob of butter
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 100ml cointreau
• 1 1/2 tbsp  fresh thyme leaves
• squeeze of lemon
• a little cornflour paste

Method

1. Using a sharp knife, make score lines diagonally along the skin each duck breast about 2cm apart.  Make more score lines at 90 degrees to these, so you have a criss-cross pattern on the skin. The lines should go alsmost all the way through the skin but shouldn’t expose the flesh if possible.
2. Peel one orange and reserve the zest. Grate the top layer of zest off one other orange and reserve. 
3. Melt the butter gently in a small saucepan. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
4. Place the ungrated zest in the butter, (pith side up, otherwise it gets bitter) and let it fry gently on a very low heat for five minutes.
5. Remove the zest from the pan and add the juice of the three oranges and the cointreau. Turn up the heat and let this simmer gently until the quantities have reduced by about a third.
6. Add the thyme leaves and simmer until the mixture is half its original volume.
7. Add a small squeeze of lemon and the grated orange zest. Mix and taste. If the mixture is too sweet add a little more lemon. If not sweet enough, add a bit of sugar.
8. Thicken with cornflour paste if desired and keep the sauce warm.
9. Get a frying pan very hot and fry the duck skin side down for 6-8 minutes. Turn and fry for about 1min 45 on the other side. Remove from the pan and wrap in foil for five minutes. (note these instructions will give you a rare/medium rare duck breast)
10. Serve the duck with the sauce poured over with baby new potatoes and a green vegetable. 

Note, for presentation purposes I added a drop of red food colouring to the sauce for the photo. Originally it was a very pale yellow/orange.