I'm sure I've said this before--it is truly amazing what you might discover lurking in your very own pantry, cupboards and freezer. There it was before me, a perfectly good duck breast in my freezer! But what to do with it? I thought of my novel, The Murdery Delicious Hamwich Gumm Mystery that features a number of creepily written recipes that anticipate the action in the unfolding fiendishly hilarious drama. I wrote them with tongue firmly planted in cheek but they are actually viable dishes to make. So here I present a variation of A Recipe for Bloodcurdling Duck Breast with Red Wine Sauce that I created from ingredients I that I already had on hand. It was so delicious indeed and utterly fowl-tastic. A soupcon of ingenuity is always the best ingredient in any kitchen concoction.
Murdery Delicious Duck Breast
(Figure on one duck breast per ghoulish guest)
Ingredients
Several Barolo wine-soaked figs from a jar, quartered
1 cup or so of dry white wine from an already opened bottle
1 cube of porcini broth dissolved in two cups of hot water
1/2 TB ground cinnamon
4 TB butter
1/2 large white onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 fistful of dried Polish mushrooms
1 tsp ground ginger
1 6 oz duck breast
1 TB olive oil
Method
Melt butter and add olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic gently. Add figs and mushrooms. Pour in broth and simmer, reducing the liquid. Pat the duck breasts with a generous amount of salt and pepper on all sides a put in skillet, skin side down. Flip once until duck has achieved an internal temperature of 135 degrees for medium-rare. Let duck rest for ten minutes, covered in foil and then serve perhaps with roasted potatoes and green beans. And don't neglect the rest of the wine!
