seared duck breast with blackberry cabernet sauce over brussel sprouts and pancetta

i've been thinking about making duck for a while now, so finally i got around to doing it. i think the reason it took so long was deciding what to serve with the duck...the only thing i was sure of was that i wanted duck with a blackberry cabernet sauce, but then what? it's been a while since i had brussel sprouts, so what the hey, brussel sprouts it is. if you have ever cooked duck, or for that matter eaten it, you know how fatty it can be. most of that fat is right under the skin, but you dont want to remove the skin because that's one of the tastiest parts. when dealing with duck breast, most recipes will tell you to score the skin, but not all the way through to the meat of the breast, just through the skin revealing all the fat; this gives the fat a way to escape when you cook it. i find that method to be a good one, but i like my skin to be really crispy, so another trick of the trade is to "boil" the fat out. after you scoring the breast you place it skin down into a a pan with 1-2 inches of water for about 10 mins (if you want added flavor the water could be chicken stock if you have it around); you get alot of the fat to cook out this way. becareful not to poach the duck breast because that's not what you're going for. after you boil the fat out you remove it from the fatty water and pat it dry, removing any excess water. then you sear it skin side down first using a hot pan; brush the pan a bit with oil, not too much, but you want something in there so the duck doesn't stick, remember you just cooked most of the fat out in the water bath. i finished the duck off in the broiler to about a medium rare/medium doneness seasoning it first with some s&p; i like my duck just pink in the inside. the blackberry cabernet sauce is just a reduction of cabernet, beef stock and blackberry perserves; really simple. the brussel sprouts were sauteed with pancetta, a very classic/common dish. i added some red pearl onions for added color and flavor. oh! i also used some white wine and chicken stock to deglaze the pan after cooking up the pancetta...flavor, flavor, flavor!!...mmmm. let's eat!!