Crispy Pan Seared Duck Breast with a Red Wine and Blueberry Reduction, Duck Fat Sautéed Potatoes Paired with 2009 Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn Parris County Blend Virginia Merlot

Way back in the early days of my culinary independence, I picked duck as a challenge not yet conquered.  This recipe is my first foray into the wonderful world of duck, and duck fat.  My first attempt was very successful, and I have prepared it several times since.  However, I realized I had not shared this recipe.  Today, I am rectifying this tragic oversight.

If you have not yet attempted duck, this is an easy and tasty place to start.  From prep to plating, this recipe takes only 30 minutes with the most difficult challenge for the uninitiated being cutting the breast from a whole duck.  If you are not comfortable with this, I am confident you will find plenty of resources on Youtube.  You can also follow these easy instructions. 

First, a boning knife is a real plus.  If not, any knife with a sharp tip will work.  Begin by scoring through the fat along the center of the duck.  Continue to lightly cut until you reach the bone.  Once you get to the bone, move you knife slightly to one side and continue to make scoring cuts along the bone until the breast is laying off to the side and connected by just the layer of fat.  Cut through the fat, and you have a duck breast ready for the pan.  Repeat for second breast.

The principal flavors in this dish include the mild gaminess of the duck, dark fruit flavors of the red wine and blueberry reduction, and the rich earthy flavors of the potatoes pan fried in duck fat (the fat is reserved from rendering the duck breast).  With the acidity of the reduction, this dish is well balanced and therefore selecting a wine with strong acidity is not particularly important.  The combination of duck and the reduction call out for a medium to full bodied wine (tending more to the full bodied).  A wine featuring dark fruit flavors and healthy earthiness will also echo flavors found in the dish.

To achieve the pairing characteristics I was looking for, I chose a 2009 Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn Parris County Blend Virginia Merlot.  You are first greeted with earthy and dark fruit aromas which are echoed in your first sip.  Although the flavors feature pleasant blackberry and plum notes, I find the earthiness most memorable.  The tannins accentuated the earthiness and promise this wine will continue to drink well for years to come.  I am confident this wine has not yet arrived at it’s peak.  I recommend picking up a few bottles to cellar for a few years.

The 2009 Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn Parris County Blend Virginia Merlot featured each of the flavor components I was looking for, and the pairing was a great success.  Although I was not looking for healthy acidity, the wine delivered and balanced the rich duck fat perfectly.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 duck breasts
• 2 cups full bodied red wine (extra tannins are good)
• 1 pint blueberries
• 2 potatoes (thinly sliced – I used a mandolin)
• 1 onion (thinly sliced – I used a mandolin)
• red wine vinegar and sugar (to adjust balance of reduction)
• 4 tablespoons duck demi glace
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• Fresh parsley

Preparation

1. Score the fat on the duck breast in a 1/2 inch cross hatch pattern.
2. Place the duck, fat side down, in a cold skillet.  Render fat over medium low heat for 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Pour rendered fat into second skillet for frying potatoes.
4. While rendering the fat, pour two cups of red wine into a sauce pan and reduce by 1/2 over medium high heat.
5. When reduced by half, add blueberries (reserving about 1/4), 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and demi glace.  Reduce by 1/2 again.
6. Increase heat under the duck to medium high and crisp the skin.  When crisp, return heat to medium, and turn breasts to the meat side.  Continue to cook for 8 minutes.
7. Remove the red wine and blueberry reduction from the heat and blend with an immersion blender.  Adjust balance by adding sugar or red wine vinegar. Add remaining blueberries and return to medium heat.
8. Bring your second skillet (with duck fat) to medium high heat, and add thinly sliced potatoes, onion, garlic, and 1/4 cup diced parsley leaves.  Continue to cook until potatoes are tender and just turning brown.  Season to taste.
9. Remove duck from heat, slice on the bias and plate with a drizzle of the reduction.  Plate potatoes and onions with parsley garnish.

In vino veritas, buen provecho

Craig

Christmas Dinner: Stuffed Pork Crown Roast Paired with 2009 Cono Sur Cochagua Valley Chile Viognier and 2009 The Immortal Zin Old Vine Lodi California Zinfandel

Every time we get in the car to visit our secret Potomac culinary lair, I always look forward to our customary stop at Nick’s of Calvert – our favorite butcher.  During the drive, Chef Sue and I usually chat about menu plans for the weekend with the intent of visiting Nick’s to provision.  This trip occurred just in advance of Christmas weekend, and I was thinking Goose a la A Christmas Carol. 

We arrived at Nick’s, and found our goose.  Unfortunately, the $58 price tag sent me reeling.  I would really like to cook a goose, but I’m not ready to empty my wallet to do so.  If you happen to know of a source in the DC area where I can find a goose at a better price, let me know.  After dumping the goose idea, we proceeded to graze through Nick’s for inspiration.  Minutes later we came across a beautiful pork crown roast and Christmas dinner began to take focus.

For the stuffing, I adapted a recipe for bobotie (a South African meatloaf type dish) that features plenty of fruit (pears, apples, raisins), curry, and a touch of heat from pepper flakes.  Each of these components contributed to my selection of a Viognier for the pairing.  The idea was to echo the fruit flavors with the hallmark intense fruit found in a Viognier.

The 2009 Cono Sur Cochagua Valley Chile Viognier deftly fulfilled my expectations with big floral aromas and intense flavors of apricot, peach, melon, and more subdued hints of spice and almond.  This wine features healthy acidity and a crisp finish.  I found this Viognier to be much brighter and crisper than the local Virginia and Maryland Viogniers I have been tasting lately which makes it a versatile pairing wine that would work very well with spicy meals such as Asian or Indian dishes.  At $12 this wine is a great value.

Of late, I have begun a routine of pairing two wines – one a complementary pairing such as the 2009 Cono Sur Cochagua Valley Chile Viognier, and a second intended to create balance through contrasting flavors.  Selecting a wine for contrasting balance is a tricky proposition, so the complementary wine is selected as the principal pairing, while the contrasting wine is more of an experiment.  In this case, I selected the 2009 The Immortal Zin Old Vine Lodi California Zinfandel as the contrasting wine.

Zinfandels, a full bodied wine, provide complex layers of flavor with dark fruits, spice, varying levels of acidity, high alcohol content, and a broad range of tannins.  My selection in this case was based on the intent to contrast the lighter fruit flavors of the stuffing with the dark fruit and spice from the Zinfandel.

The 2009 The Immortal Zin Old Vine Lodi California Zinfandel was a wonderful surprise pairing.  The subdued dark fruit and cherry aromas belie the bold cherry, strawberry and dark fruit and spice flavors.  This wine is velvety smooth in the mouth and has a pleasing long finish.  The pairing was spectacular, and was the favorite of our Christmas dinner crowd.  However, I am finding it difficult to describe why.  Here is my best attempt:  The 2009 The Immortal Zin Old Vine Lodi California Zinfandel was a pleasant contrast in fruit flavors adding a layer of dark fruit to the brighter fruit flavors in the stuffing.  I found the spice flavors of the Zin played nicely with the curry and red pepper flakes, and the smooth round mouth feel seemed to match the tender texture of the pork precisely.  At $14, this Zin is a great value and an enjoyable wine anytime.

To round out the meal, we had salt boiled baby red potatoes and pureed turnips.  While quite enjoyable, the pork crown roast was clearly the star of the day.  I hope you enjoyed your Christmas dinner as much as we did.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium diced onion
• 1 pound loose fennel sausage
• 1 cup milk
• 3 cups bread broken into 1 inch cubes
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 apple diced
• 2 pears diced
• 1 orange sectioned with membranes removed
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 large egg

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions in the hot oil until soft. Break the pork sausage into the skillet and cook until just browned. Do not cook through. Just before finished, add curry, pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Remove from heat and place in a large bowl.
3. Place the milk in a shallow dish. Soak the bread in the milk. Squeeze the excess milk from the bread and add to the bowl with the sausage and onions. Set the milk aside. Add the bread to the sausage mixture.
4. Stir in the raisins, pears and apples.
5. Place the pork crown roast in a roasting pan just larger than the crown. Pack the stuffing mixture into the center of the crown roast and in the open spaces at the base of the roast.
6. Whisk egg with leftover milk, and pour half the mixture over the stuffing in the center of the crown roast.
7. Cover the stuffing and the tips of the rib bones with foil then place the whole roast in the oven and bake for  2 hours or until an instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone registers 150 degrees F.
8. About 45 minutes before done, remove the foil covering leaving the small bone tip foil in place.
9. Remove crown roast from oven, cover with foil and let rest for 30 minutes before serving.

In vino veritas, buen provecho.

Craig