Duck, duck...

I recently got a brand-new pair of Riedel Burgundy/Pinot Noir glasses, and I was dying to try them out. We still had some duck breast in the freezer, left over from our other duck dinner a couple months ago. I loved the cherry-port sauce from that meal, so I decided to make it again. However this time, we cooked our duck breast sous-vide style, which definitely resulted in more tender and evenly cooked meat.


Cooking the duck breast "sous-vide" style.

For the sides, we again had Eric Ripert's glazed carrots with cumin from last time, since I just loved how well that went with the duck and the cherry sauce (. We decided to change up the starch though, since the duck-fat roasted potatoes was just way too rich. This time, we opted for a celery root puree, a side that we have used in the past for braised short ribs. The celery root puree was lighter and more vegetal than regular mashed potatoes, and I think it went perfectly with the duck! This is probably the 3rd or 4th time we've made duck breast at home, and I am happy to say we've finally perfected our duck breast dinner! This is definitely going into my dinner party file.


Sides: glazed carrots with cumin (left), celery root puree (right)

For the wine, we opened a nice bottle of Flowers Pinot Noir 2006. I first tasted and loved this wine when Uly and I dined at Le Bernardin last year, and I had to have it so I found it online and bought it shortly after we got back. It's been sitting in our cellar for over a year and I figured it was a good time to open this bottle, especially with the Eric Ripert connection (the glazed carrots recipe from his duck episode, and he also had a separate episode on Flowers Pinot Noir). I think it was probably a bit too subtle for the duck (we did have it with fish at the restaurant) but nevertheless did justice to my pretty new glasses. As much as I love cabs, sometimes, it's just great to have a good Pinot to mix things up!


Our main dish, and Flowers Pinot Noir


Our finished plate...perfectly cooked duck and sides!