A couple weeks ago, my husband and I tried our hand at preparing duck breast. When we bought the breasts (frozen), we had no idea what the task level involved, but we were eager to try something not in our usual beef/pork/chicken/veggie rotation.
Turns out, it couldn't be easier to prepare a (seriously delicious) breast of duck, but we did a little online research before diving in. There is a definite technique, that I believe, if used, is nearly fail-proof.
Since I was up to my ears in food prep for this meal, I didn't get any action shots, but we followed THIS BLOG'S instructions to a "T," and the duck turned out amazing.
*following images courtesy of A Spicy Perspective*Here's how it went down....
We took the breast fillet, and scored the thick fat layer all the way to the muscle. Then, seasoned it with salt and pepper.
Then, in a pre-heated cast iron skillet, we placed the breasts fat side down. The point is to render the layer of fat, which leaves you with an incredibly-rich, intense-flavored oil. Be sure to save it for another recipe!
We let the breasts cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes.
Then, flipped them, and seared the meat side for another 7 or so minutes (our filets were small)
We removed the breasts, and let them rest under foil while I made a small pan sauce using orange juice, a tad of port, and mushrooms. 
