Halloween Duck

Downtown Manhattan, Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Well it has been a crazy couple of days here in New York post Hurricane Sandy.  We were very, very lucky given the amount of destruction caused by the storm surge and winds.  Seeing the photos of cars floating in downtown NYC where I work and houses under water across the river in Hoboken it is hard to believe that we were relatively untouched other than some downed trees and branches.  It is hard to know what to do and how to help.  The subways are still not running.  Manhattan is powerless from 39th Street down. Limited bus service is available with people spending hours waiting to get on a bus and traffic is even worse - lines for gas stations take hours due to power problems.  So we have been staying local.  I went to the gym yesterday and it was packed.  Everyone else must have cabin fever too.  I haven't seen that many people in the gym since January when New Year's resolutions are fresh in everyone mind.

 Warren Street, Brooklyn

Since I have had a lot of unexpected free time, I have been doing a lot of cooking - kale chips, roasted vegetables, roasted red pepper and tomato soup, chicken stock, apricot nut bars, sandwich bread, Mexican style chicken soup... etc.  Alex commented that if we did lose power we'd have to throw out all of my newly made food.  I responded that we may have to throw out some stuff, but we would most certainly be drinking the 6 quarts of chicken stock I just made. Luckily for us we didn't lose power.

Yesterday,  I decided I would cook up a duck breast I bought a few weeks ago at the farmers market for dinner. I haven't had duck in...well, I can't remember the last time... and I have to admit it was pretty amazing.  I served it with a cherry sauce and roasted vegetables.

Pan Sauteed Duck Breast with Cherry Sauce

1. Salt and pepper both sides of the duck breast and let come to room temperature - about 15-20 minutes. 
2. Score the skin side of the breast with cross hatch slices - this way it will cook up very pretty in your pan. 
3. Heat a pan over medium heat (I used cast iron) and place breast skin (aka fat) side down.  Let cook for about 8-10 minutes until browned and flip to the other side, cooking roughly the same amount of time.  You could also choose to finish this off in the oven if it is getting too brown - I try to limit turning on my oven since it makes our apartment a sauna so I just cooked it on the stove the entire time. My duck was about medium-rare with this cooking time.
4. Remove duck from pan when done and let rest while you prepare the sauce.



Cherry Sauce
1/2 small onion minced
1 orange juiced
1/2 c. organic Bing cherries (important to use organic here)
1/3 c. chicken stock
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (check to make sure there is no sugar hidden here!)
2 tablespoons dry red wine
Salt/Pepper

1. Pour off the fat left in the pan from cooking the duck breast leaving a thin coating to start the sauce.  Reserve fat in the fridge for cooking eggs/vegetables later.
2. Saute the minced onions until soft and translucent.
3. Deglaze the pan with the wine and balsamic vinegar, scraping up any brown bits.
4. Add the orange juice, chicken stock and cherries to the pan breaking up cherries with the back of a spoon to release juices.
5. Let the sauce simmer until thickened, adding more chicken stock if sauce becomes too thick.
6. Add salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary
7. Sit down with your small glass of red wine, sip slowly and enjoy your duck!