Pan Roasted Duck Breast 2

If you scroll down a couple inches you will find the same picture, with no words. A painfully obvious example of the fact that I am playing with a technology that I don't understand... I am sorry for the premature post, (I pushed a button that I was not intending to push).

To the duck. Today was a good day, a damn good day. It was a day that was significant in my life as a cook. (Alright, I'm not a cook. It was significant in my life as a person who prepares food). I prepared duck, for the first time. I am not going to make this sound more romantic than it was, I was intimidated. When I think of duck on a menu I think of a chef that is so confident in his cooking that even if the duck didn't taste good, no one would have the balls to tell him. What I mean is... you only find it at restaurants that don't care how they get reviewed. You know the saying when there is no price on the menu, "If you have to ask... it's too much." My version, "If you're going to critique my duck dish... go **** yourself." Because duck isn't for the average diner, it isn't for the average food connoisseur... duck is for the food eater.

With that said I went "all for broke." I got some advice from my chef cousin about how to prepare the duck breast and did it as close as I could to what I remembered. Scored the skin and fat, rendered off the fat, roasted in the oven and then finished by braising the breast in its own fat. The sauce I could have done better. The taste was amazing... I LOVED it. It was a Blueberry Green Peppercorn Chutney that I thought was fantastic. The only problem was the texture. I cooked the sauce down for about an hour but the peppercorns were still too tough. If I had it to do again I would definitely put the Chutney into a blender and purify it before pouring it onto the duck. A rookie mistake, but I am still a rookie.

The dish as a whole was terrific. I was proud of myself. I thought the duck was cooked great and would serve it to anyone with pride. I will work on my sauces and presentation, (they both need a lot of work), but that is what this whole project is for... to get better. I had a great time with duck and am looking forward to next week! Come back... NEXT ROUND'S ON ME!