Around My French Table (46 page)

T
HE FRENCH SEEM TO HAVE A HUNDRED WAYS
to sauce a duck breast, almost all of them sweet and savory and fruity and almost all of them very good. This recipe, which came to me from my first-ever French friend, Anne Noblet, who begged it from her brother Hervé's friend Françoise Maloberti, is indeed sweet (honey and port), savory (balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, and thyme), and fruity (peach) and is indeed very, very good. It's also simple and, like the best duck breast recipes, looks fancier and more time-consuming than it is—always a neat trick. When I got the recipe, I told myself that I would make it only at the height of summer, when peaches are at their most perfect, and that I would retire the recipe at the end of the season, an idea that struck me as righteous, responsible, and culinarily sound. But I liked the sauce so much that I never put the recipe away; instead, I found other fruits and herbs that I could easily slip in as the seasons changed. For a few examples, see Bonne Idée.

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Using the point of a sharp knife, score the duck skin in a crosshatch pattern, cutting deeply into the layer of fat but taking care not to nick the meat. Season the duck breasts on both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. (You can cook the breasts in a skillet, but a casserole does a better job of containing the fat spatters. A cast-iron casserole is perfect.) When a few drops of water sprinkled into the pot dance and evaporate quickly, put the breasts in the casserole skin side down—stand away, because the fat will spatter. Cook for 8 minutes, or until the skin is brown and crisp. Turn the pieces over and cook for 3 minutes more for very rare breasts, which will cook a tad more during their rest in the oven. If you'd like the meat slightly more cooked, keep the breasts in the pot for up to 2 minutes longer. (Cook any longer, and they will really be well-done, which is not what's best for a duck breast.)

Lift the breasts out of the pot and onto a sheet of aluminum foil. Seal the breasts loosely in the foil and put them in the oven on a baking sheet for 5 minutes to rest and finish cooking.

Pour off all but a scant tablespoon of fat from the pot and put the pot over medium heat. Toss in the thyme sprig and garlic, stir to coat with fat, and then add the peaches. Lower the heat and cook the peaches gently for about 5 minutes, or until they are golden. Transfer the peaches to a plate and keep warm (in the oven, if you like); discard the thyme and garlic.

Pour out whatever fat remains in the pot and put the pot over low heat. Add the honey and cook just until it melts, a minute or so. Pour in the port and vinegars and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper, lower the heat, and, using a whisk, energetically stir in the butter piece by piece until you have a smooth sauce.

Open the foil packet and pour whatever juices have accumulated around the duck breasts into the sauce, whisking to incorporate them. Slide the duck breasts into the pot and turn them around in the sauce, about 30 seconds on each side, to reheat them.

Slice the duck and serve with the sauce and peaches, sprinkled with thyme, if you like.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

SERVING
Cut each duck breast on the diagonal into slices about ½ inch thick. Fan out the pieces on serving plates, spoon over the sauce, and arrange the peach halves around the meat. Sprinkle the duck and peaches with thyme leaves, if you're using them, and serve immediately.

STORING
The dish is quick and should be cooked
à la minute.
If you want to get a head start on it, though, you can make the sauce up to a day ahead, pour it into a covered container, and keep it refrigerated until serving time, when you can reheat it in the pot. If you have any leftover duck, wrap it well and refrigerate it—it's great in salads and sandwiches (use it the way you'd use leftover steak).

BONNE IDÉE
Without changing the major ingredients in the recipe, you can take this dish through the seasons by varying the fruit. In the early fall, substitute fresh figs for the peaches; later in the fall, use small pears (like Seckel pears—just make sure they cook through) or slices of firm Fuyu persimmons. In the winter, dried fruits, such as prunes, figs, or apricots, are nice as long as they're really soft—you might want to steam them briefly if they're hard at the start. And in late spring, you can use raspberries. If you decide on berries, think about replacing the white wine vinegar with a berry vinegar.

D
UCK A L'ORANGE, A DUCK ROASTED
with oranges, is one of the great classics of traditional dressy French cuisine. In the 1950s and '60s, it was one of the standards against which serious home cooks in America measured themselves, but today it's almost never made at home in France or the United States and rarely found in restaurants.

The dish, which was daunting—you had to deal with a whole duck and a whole lot of fat—may have lost its following, but the combination of duck and orange is too good not to live on, so here's a more manageable version. This rendition delivers both the duck and the orange, but it features just the meaty breast and amps up the citrus flavor by using kumquat, orange's smaller, more exotic, more acidic cousin. It's a great addition to the sauce, which is made from wine, vinegar, broth, and cracked spices.

For added doability, the kumquats can be candied and the sauce made a few days ahead.

TO MAKE THE KUMQUATS:
Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to make certain the sugar dissolves. Add the kumquats, lower the heat so that the syrup simmers gently, and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the kumquats are tender and translucent. Set aside to cool.
(The kumquats can be made up to 5 days ahead and kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator; bring to room temperature before using.)

TO MAKE THE SAUCE:
Put the wine, balsamic vinegar, shallots, peppercorns, and coriander in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil over high heat, and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the orange juice, return the mixture to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil, and continue to cook at a boil until reduced to about 2 cups of liquid. Strain the sauce and set aside while you prepare the duck breasts.
(You can cover and refrigerate the sauce for up to 2 days.)

TO MAKE THE DUCK:
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.

Using the point of a sharp knife, score the duck skin in a crosshatch pattern, cutting deeply into the layer of fat but taking care not to nick the meat. Season the duck breasts on both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. (You can cook the breasts in a skillet, but a casserole does a better job of containing fat spatters. A cast-iron casserole is perfect.) When a few drops of water sprinkled into the pot dance and evaporate quickly, put the breasts in the casserole skin side down—stand away, because the fat will spatter. Cook for 8 minutes, or until the skin is brown and crisp. Turn the pieces over and cook on the meat side for 3 minutes more for very rare breasts, which will cook a little more while they rest in the oven. If you'd like the meat slightly more cooked, keep the breasts in the pot for up to 2 minutes longer. (Cook any longer, and they will really be well-done, which is not what's best for a duck breast.)

Lift the breasts out of the pot and onto a sheet of aluminum foil. Seal the breasts loosely in the foil and put them in the oven on a baking sheet for 5 minutes to rest and finish cooking.

Pour off all but about a tablespoon of the fat from the pot, and set the pot over medium heat. Add the sauce and bring it to a boil, then stir in the 3 tablespoons kumquat syrup. Open the foil packet and pour whatever juices have accumulated around the duck breasts into the pot. Bring the sauce to a boil again; taste for salt and pepper. Return the breasts to the pot and turn them around in the sauce to reheat them, about 30 seconds on each side.

Slice the duck and serve with the sauce and candied kumquats; garnish the duck with crushed pepper.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

SERVING
Cut each duck breast on the diagonal into slices about ½ inch thick. Fan the slices out on individual plates, pour a little sauce over each breast, sprinkle over the candied kumquats, and dust each breast with a little crushed black pepper. Serve immediately.

STORING
You can make the kumquats and the sauce days ahead. If you have any leftover duck, wrap it well and refrigerate it—it is great in salads and sandwiches (use it the way you'd use leftover steak).

BEEF AND VEAL

Bistrot Paul Bert Pepper Steak
[>]

Café Salle Pleyel Hamburger
[>]

My Go-to Beef Daube
[>]

Beef Cheek Daube with Carrots and Elbow Macaroni
[>]

Boeuf à la Ficelle
(Beef on a String)
[>]

Boeuf à la Mode
(aka Great Pot Roast)
[>]

Short Ribs in Red Wine and Port
[>]

Hachis Parmentier
[>]

Next-Day Beef Salad
[>]

Green-as-Spring Veal Stew
[>]

Veal Marengo
[>]

Veal Chops with Rosemary Butter
[>]

Osso Buco à l'Arman
[>]

PORK

Fresh Orange Pork Tenderloin
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Coconut-Lemongrass-Braised Pork
[>]

Chard-Stuffed Pork Roast
[>]

Pork Roast with Mangoes and Lychees
[>]

Cola and Jam Spareribs
[>]

LAMB

Navarin Printanier
[>]

Braised Cardamom-Curry Lamb
[>]

Lamb and Dried Apricot Tagine
[>]

B
ISTROT PAUL BERT IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE
family-owned restaurants in Paris. It's got just the right hum and just the right bustle, and it looks as though it was lifted from everyone's dream of what the perfect French bistro should look like—there are red leather banquettes and a big wooden bar with a zinc countertop and a wine list that would be the envy of much, much grander restaurants. Most important, the food is great. The owner, Bertrand Auboyneau, and his wife, whose family are third-generation oyster growers from Brittany, search out small farmers and producers, know all their suppliers, dote on everything they serve, and don't shy away from offering their opinions on what you should eat and drink, and how. While the menu on the chalkboard changes daily, the tagline doesn't:
Ici les viandes sont servies bleues, saignantes, ou malcuites.
To translate: We serve meat blue [just barely warm in the center], rare, or badly cooked! That doesn't mean you can't get a well-done steak at Paul Bert; it just means it'll come with attitude.