Sunday, July 18, 2010

Muscovy Duck Salad at DeLaurenti's Specialty Food and Wine


Ah...DeLaurenti's
I love this store.
If I could change my name to Nelle "DeLaurenti's Specialty Food and Wine" Bruce, I would.
Instead I will settle for perusing their aisles, munching on my favorite panino (mortadella on grissini with olive oil), and looking forward to my Christmas stocking (NO, I am not 6 years old but I did swallow a cherry pit today..) which is always filled with specialty food items goodies.

Ah. The cheeses, the meats. The CHEESES AND THE MEATS. Then there is fantastical array of vinegars, mustards, oil packed tuna!, olive oils, cookies, spices, pastas fresh (a la Ethan Stowell) and dried. I could go on, but perhaps you would like to know why I babble on?
I frequently visit the store's website in hopes that they will call for my employment one day. On other days, I view up to date information on the latest shipment of white truffles or, on occasion I view recipes.
Since last week was a special event, I decided to opt for a new and exciting meal, one of which I have no experience whatsoever cooking.

(click link for recipe)
As DeLaurenti's says...duck is your friend. It does yield some extra fat, but said fat can be used in many dish after your consumption of the initial salad. I recommend roasted potatoes in duck fat. Or scrambled eggs (in a bit of DF) finished with truffle salt. Then go ahead and pop some champagne.
I duck-gress...

A brief word about these breasteses;
Muscovy duck originated in Brazil and is more lean and flavorful than its more commercialized counterpart, the Pekin duck. Do pay attention to what type you are buying, because finding Muscovy or Moulard is a fancy fowl treat!

Muscovy Duck, prepped for searing

I would like to add, that I really could of used one of those fat splatter shield things while searing this duck, because though it's a leaner duck, there is still a lot of fat rendered in the pan as well as rendered into my face *Oh the hot oil* as I peered upon the progress.

Achieve a crust by searing each breast, fat side down to start. Then, finish in the oven for 3 min per side @400 degrees

(Take a moment to open some wine prematurely)

While the breasts sear (should take less than 10 minutes) you may choose to drink wine or assemble the dressing.
I chose both.
Literally, the best dressing for simple greens are a combination of the following foundation items;
  • A FINE olive oil
  • Acid (vinegar or lemon, I often use both)
  • Generous S&P (please only use fine, course sea salt and coursely ground pepper. Anxiety will occur if table salt/bottled pepper is let near a vinaigrette)
  • Dijon Mustard
  • Shallot (and or garlic, though none was used in this recipe)
This formula comes together in a matter of moments with a mini food processor, blender, or cave man age bowl and whisk. In general, try to have the salad err on the more acid-idy side. No one likes to eat an oily salad, it has been documented:


Gather salad accouterment. Be sure to choose a fine goat cheese for this salad, since there are not many other ingredients. The marinated beets are deliciously spiced with rosemary, ginger and lemon, but also evoke some holiday spices as well. Cinnamon? Cloves? They reminded me a lot of Pickle Me Nelle Onions

Assemble your fine creation and thank the DeLaurenti's Gods!

Enjoy with a Provençal rose. A favorite pastime of mine in the summer months, is to end each sentence with;
"enjoy with a Provençal rose"



and so I shall.

2 comments:

  1. What a divine meal! I'm terrified of duck but for the moment you've inspired me to try my hand at it... we shall see! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wunderbar! I hope you do try it and thank you so much for reading! It's actually less nerve racking than cooking chicken, because you can leave a little pink in the center. Don't forget the vino!

    Nelle

    P.S. Congrats on your new addition:)

    ReplyDelete