Sunday, November 28, 2010

Duck breast with black raspberry sauce

My blogging associate, Vinogirl, likes duck. After a comment about duck that she made on her blog, I promised a duck recipe.

This one is duck breast with black raspberry sauce, for two.

Ingredients:

Two duck breasts
Flour
1 Shallot chopped
2 Cloves Garlic minced
Cup of Black Raspberries
Cup of Ruby Port
Crushed black pepper
Olive Oil
Two large potatoes cut into small cubes
1 Onion sliced
½ cup Chicken Stock
Paprika

Pound the duck breast, sprinkle one side with pepper and then flour; do the same for the other side.

I keep some black raspberries from my garden frozen whole through the winter. When I want some, I remove as much as I want, let them warm up and then run them through a sieve to remove as much of the little seeds as possible.

In a skillet with a little olive oil, brown the duck at high heat on both sides and remove.

Deglaze the skillet with ½ cup Port until it cooks down to half; then, bring heat to low, add the shallot, half of the garlic, raspberries, and the rest of the port and let simmer, but don’t let it dry out. If that is about to happen, add wine.

In a pan, add tablespoon oil, onion and cook on medium for a minute; then, the rest of the garlic and cook for another minute; then, add the potatoes, sprinkle as much paprika as you want on them, add stock, mix things up, cover and simmer on low flame until the potatoes are soft—it should take about twenty or so minutes.
Gauge your stovetop and calculate how much time you need to allow the potatoes to cook so that the potatoes and the duck are ready at the same time, based on how rare—or not—you like your duck.
In another pan add a teaspoon olive oil over low heat; then, add the duck breast and let cook for about three minutes, turn over and let cook for three minutes; then, cover for two minutes. Check the duck breast to see if it is as rare as you like it, or not too rare. If you need to cook more, keep watch over the breast so that it doesn’t overcook (I like mine pink to juicy). Always remember that meat cooks a little more after you turn off the flame.
When done, the potatoes should be soft and moist. If they are done slightly before the duck, just turn off the flame and let them sit covered.
When it is done, plate the duck, either pour the sauce over it or beside it, whether you like to cut and dip or sauce and cut.

Before serving the potatoes, sprinkle some pepper over them (salt too if you use it, I never do).

Add your greens of choice or salad.

Which wine would you pair with this meal?

Vinogirl Blog

Copyright Thomas Pellechia
November 2010. All rights reserved.


Lifting a blog entry without the author's permission (and without recompense) is a copyright infringement--period.

7 comments:

  1. Hmmm the fruit and the port are making me think Amarone.

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  2. I've had this duck breast with Sforzato, Pinot Noir, and Gewurztraminer--each worked for various reasons.

    The raspberries are quite acidic. The Port balances that but does not erase it. The sauce is powerfully fruity, yet the garlic and shallot tames that. It's quite a jumble of flavors--and then there's the gaminess of the duck!

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  3. This recipe sounds delicious. Even though the Petit verdot worked well with my duck I'd much rather have a Cabernet franc (preferably a Chinon) every time.

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  4. Vinogirl,

    Good duck is gamey, but the sauce must also be taken into consideration.

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  5. But Thomas, its fruitiness is why I picked it, along with a little greeness (especially from a cool climate Cab Franc) and a bit of spicy pepperiness. The fruit would compliment, and the spiciness would contrast. Lamb is often gamier than duck and I don't think you could deny that a good Chinon and a leg of lamb go well together.

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  6. Vinogirl,

    I was only pointing out that the sauce plays an important, and sometimes larger role than the meat.

    Wasn't questioning, nor do I question, what other people prefer. I gave up doing that the day I met a woman who drank Riesling with every meal--every meal--because she said that the wine pairs with every food.

    As for Cab Franc: I love the cool climate versions with calves liver in balsamic vinegar sauce.

    For lamb, I'm partial to the Rhone varieties, although I've been told it's best with Bordeaux, which I have never found to be true for my palate--maybe Riesling??? ;)

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  7. Never a truer word spoken...I know someone who would happily drink Pinot gris with every meal. And you're right, Rhone wines do work well with lamb.

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