Instructions: Pull skin from duck, cutting where needed to release.

Lay skin flat in a 9- or 10-inch-wide pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven until browned, about 30 minutes; turn skin over several times. Drain on paper towels. Pour fat from pan into a container; reserve. Wipe pan clean; set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

As skin bakes, mix salt and sugar and rub all over duck breasts. Put meat in a bowl and let stand 15 to 20 minutes, then rinse well and pat dry. Discard liquid that forms.

Rinse and drain escarole, trim out core, and coarsely chop leaves.

Lightly brush one side of each bread slice with 2 teaspoons reserved duck fat. Set bread, fat-side up, in a single layer in a 10- by 15-inch pan. Bake in the 300 degrees oven until pale gold and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes. Keep warm.

Put 2 teaspoons reserved duck fat in a 10- to 12-inch ovenproof frying pan over high heat. When hot, add breasts and brown on each side, about 6 minutes total. Put duck and pan in the 300 degrees oven. Bake until breasts are just pink in the center (130 to 140 degrees; cut to test), about 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Keeping breasts warm, let stand at least 10 minutes for juices to settle.

Meanwhile, finely dice duck skin, return it to its pan, and put in the oven. Bake until sizzling, about 15 minutes. Keep warm.

When breasts have rested at least 5 minutes, put 1 teaspoon duck fat and the chicken broth in a 5- to 6-quart pan over high heat. Add escarole and stir until barely wilted, about 2 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer escarole to 4 warmed dinner plates.

Slice duck breasts across the grain and lay equal portions on plates. Sprinkle with duck skin. Accompany with toast, wasabi, and pickled ginger.

This recipe yields 4 servings

Comments: Like beauty, fat on a duck is only skin deep. It doesnt streak through the muscle as in beef. So when you skin a duck, which is easy, you end up with meat that competes with chicken for leanness. And as an alternative to the ubiquitous chicken breast, duck breast is not only a relief, its also juicier and more flavorful.

However, that duck skin doesnt have to go to waste. Roast it separately.

The breast of Pekin duck, the bird typically sold whole at the market (and used in the Chinese dish Peking duck), is worth the effort to get. Usually its available by special order at a poultry or meat market or the meat counter at a supermarket (allow one or two days). Boned Pekin breasts run $7 to $12 a pound. Another choice, Muscovy duck breasts, are stronger-tasting and sometimes more expensive, but the meat becomes much milder with this recipes salt-sugar cure.

If using boned Muscovy duck breasts (which are typically packaged as individual halves), you need 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds total. Use butter or olive oil instead of duck fat if you dont cook the skin. About 80 percent of the fat in duck skin cooks out, so the crisp cracklings are less rich than you might think - but no accurate nutritional information exists.

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