This recipe is from Charlie Parker… an accomplished California Chef and avid sportsman… or maybe he is an avid chef and an accomplished sportsman? Regardless. Suffice it to say that he fishes or hunts (and grows) for much of what he puts on the table. Can you see me in a duck blind wearing one of those silly hats? Or foraging in the woods of Litchfield County for non-poisonous and non-hallucinogenic mushrooms? I did my hunting and provisioning at LaBonne’s, Woodbury’s consummate market.
For wine it’s a Santa Cruz Pinot Noir. As a wine producing zone, Santa Cruz Mountains is gaining fame for producing some great “Burgundy fruit”: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The mountains offer favorable climate and soil conditions… and Vine Hill’s vineyard site dates back to the 19thCentury. Of course a good Côte de Nuits Burgundy would do the trick, as would a top flight Alsatian Riesling. Or if you are in the mood for Italy, I would choose a Nebbiolo based red from the Piedmont.
Vine Hill Estate Pinot Noir ’10 (Santa Cruz Mountains, CA)
Gold San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition
This Pinot Noir shows bright aromas of raspberries, mandarin orange peel & earthy brambles. Silky tannins and luscious flavors of nutmeg and ginger are accented by dark cocoa and vanilla and interact superbly with the wines natural acidity. This is a wine you will love right away but it will improve developing complexity and length with time in the cellar. The wine is everything lovers of Pinots will appreciate.
DUCK BREAST W/WILD MUSHROOMS & ASPARAGUS
Ingredients
6 ounces of Tanqueray Gin
½ ounce of Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth
A goodly amount of ice
3 olives stuffed with blue cheese
4 duck breasts, boneless, skin on
8 small new potatoes, halved
10 spears of asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1” segments
6 oz mixed wild mushrooms
½ cup chopped red onion
1 large clove of garlic, sliced
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
Freshly ground pepper
Coarse salt
Directions
1. Put gin and vermouth into a glass pitcher, fill with ice, stir vigorously while incanting, “You who know all, thank you for providing us juniper and all the other obscure ingredients responsible for creating this sacred liquid!” Strain into a pre-frozen Martini glass of admirable size. Skewer the olives on one of those tacky cocktail swords, place in glass. Immediately begin consuming. Now you can begin the food prep, and the cooking!
2. Preheat oven to 350°F
3. Score the skin of the duck in a crosshatch pattern to release the maximum amount of fat. Season each breast with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper (much will fall off in the cooking process). Heat a 10” cast iron skillet over medium heat until hot but hot, not smoking. Add the duck breasts, skin side down, and cook until the skin is well browned and crisp, about 10 minutes. Baste the meat side of the breast with some of the released fat a few times during the process.
4. Transfer the duck from the pan to a plate and set aside. Add the potatoes, cut side down, to the hot fat and transfer the pan to the preheated oven. Roast until the potatoes are just tender, about 15 minutes. Keep the oven at 350°F
5. Return pan to the stovetop over medium heat and stir in the remaining ingredients, re-seasoning with salt and pepper. Sauté until mushrooms begin to color and all the ingredients are hot, about 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Return the duck breasts, skin side up, to the pan and pour in any juices left on the plate. Place the skillet in the preheated oven to roast all the ingredients together for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and let sit for a few minutes to allow the duck breasts to rest before serving.
n.b. Scrounging in LaBonne’s wasn’t as successful as planned. Although I have seen a blended selection of fresh mushrooms before, I had to substitute whole “baby” portabellas for the wild mushrooms in this recipe. No one quacked. Also, it took longer to get the spuds to “fork tender”, and I attribute that to the size of the potatoes. Other than that… this has to be the easiest to prepare best recipe I have found to date.