little bitty girl

Inspired by my own post yesterday, I went out to get some duck breast and attempted to make a decent meal out of it. Holy Crap! What do they feed these things anyway? Two small to medium breasts cost about $20. It's almost the same price as a really good cut of beef.

I have to be the first to admit that I sometimes have issues mixing the proper flavours together. For example, the side dish will overpower the flavour of the main dish. This is the first time that I really put some thought into what each ingredient would taste like together and how I could make it work to enhance one another. Whenever I have had duck, it's usually been cooked in a Chinese rotisserie style, where the fat crisped up is favoured. From friends who are connoisseurs of this particular meat, I was told that duck breast done right should have pretty lean with a really subtle, rich flavour. I have to say that I am so surprised and pleased that my first attempt came out so fabulously. It's definitely going to be added into the list of dishes to serve when guests come over.

Roasted Duck Breast With Port Wine Wild Blueberry Sauce

Ingredients:

2 small to medium duck breast
4-6 potatoes
1 bunch of white asparagus
2 handfuls of baby arugula
2 shallots, sliced thinly
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 handful of wild blueberries
100 ml of balsamic vinegar
100 ml of port wine
1 tbs of honey
lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut potatoes with skin on in quarters. Fill a medium saucepan with cold water and put in potatoes. Set the temperature to medium. I always fine that mash potatoes come out so much better when it's been slowly cooked over a longer period of time.
3. Heat a cast iron pan over medium to high heat.
4. Scour duck breast on the fatty (skin) side in a diamond pattern. Lightly season both sides with kosher/sea salt and pepper.
5. Place duck breast on the fatty side and cook until most of the fat evaporates/when the skin side gets golden and crispy. Flip onto other side and sear for 2 minutes. Scoop 90% of the duck fat into a glass jar.
6. Take a baking tray and line with aluminum foil. Take the duck breast and place in the middle. Cook duck breast for approximately 20 minutes or until meat thermometer inserted into center of meat reads 150 degrees (for medium rare).
7. Take the duck breast out from oven and wrap in aluminum foil. Let the meat rest for 5 minutes.
8. Take potatoes, drain and place in a Kitchen Aid Mixer (or use a hand masher). Add 2 cloves of minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Instead of using melted butter, use some of your reserved duck fat. The reason why I left the skins on is because it's gives the mashed potatoes an interesting texture and hardiness, which I thought would be a nice contrast to the velvety smoothness of the meat.
9. In the same cast iron pan that you used to sear the meat and have some leftover duck fat in, saute shallots until translucent. Throw in garlic and blueberries. Add the balsamic vinegar, port wine ad honey. Simmer until alcohol evaporates and forms a sauce. Make sure the sauce doesn't get too thick.
10. Break off asparagus bottoms (let it break where it wants to naturally). White asparagus tends to have thicker skins than green ones, so peel off skins. Steam asparagus until tender.
11. In two separate bowls, toss asparagus and arugula in olive oil, salt & pepper and lemon juice.
12. Slice duck breast thinly with the grain. Arrange in a fan, add mash potatoes, asparagus and arugula. Spoon sauce over duck breast and serve.

This recipe can be used for up to 4 people. Just increase the size of duck breast and vegetable servings. The slight bitterness of the arugula and asparagus, juxtaposed with the sweetness of the sauce and the rich flavour of the meat was divine.