January 6, 2014 Roasted Duck with Sautéed sweet potatoes and
steamed sugar snap peas
There are two reasons why folks say that a chicken will
serve four and a duck will serve 2 ½ persons.
Ducks are bonier or alternatively have smaller breasts and
thighs and they are also much more delicious than chickens.
Suzette cleaned out the freezer in the garage on Sunday and
found a whole frozen duck. We thawed it
out on Sunday and Monday and when I was delayed at a meeting this evening she
pricked the duck’s skin to release the fat when it cooked, rubbed the duck with
five spice seasoning, impaled it on a spandex vertical roasting frame, and put
it in a roasting pan filled to ¼ inch with water into a 425˚ oven for fifteen
minutes and then reduced the heat to 350˚ and roasted it for 2 hours.
The duck was cooked to a super crisp finish that rendered
most of the grease and left the duck meat relatively fat free, dry but not
without flavor and tenderness. This was
the first time I had ever seen a duck cooked in this manner and I admit that I
liked it a lot better than the traditional greasy duck laid on its stomach.
I chopped ¾ of a medium onion and sautéed it in butter and
then added five cloves of chopped garlic.
After the onions and garlic softened a bit we added about two lbs. of
sweet potato cubes in a large enameled Le Crueset casserole. Suzette added some water and covered the
casserole and we cooked it on the top of the stove for about thirty minutes, as
the vertical frame with the duck filled the oven.
I de-stemmed about 1 ½ cups of sugar snap peas and we
steamed them for eight minutes.
I opened a bottle of Chateau Haut-Sorillon 2011 Bordeaux
Superieur about thirty minutes before the meal to allow it to breath a
bit. After cutting the duck into pieces,
I poured glasses of wine and we were ready to eat and drink. Suzette took a small scoop of potatoes and I
took a large scoop and we each took a thigh and leg section. We ate every part of the duck except the
breasts, which we resisted so we would have enough meat for another meal.
We both loved the meal and I decided that we did not need to
convert our diet to low cal-low carb foods, but just eat less of the things we
know are high carb.
After dinner I broke the first rule of low carb and toasted
two pieces of bread and fetched the brie from the fridge in the garage and
smeared the toast with butter and brie and enjoyed the cheese with the last of
the wine. At least I did not eat four
pieces of bread.
To celebrate the conclusion of my cycle of antibiotics and
hopefully the end of my sinus infection and crud in my chest, I was compelled
to eat two truffles from the lovely box of chocolates made by Theobroma that
Ken and Nancy Gillen gave us for Christmas with a glass of cognac mixed with
the Grand Marnier that J.B and Cirrelda Snider-Bryan gave us for Christmas. The
lovely chocolates and Grand Marnier made me feel better in two ways. The joy of friends sharing Christmas with us
by bringing us thoughtful gifts made me joyous and the direct experience of enjoying
the elegant gifts themselves.
Perhaps a third thought is that we should all support our
local chocolatiers; having fresh truffles is a joy.
We watched the NCAA BCS Championship Game between Auburn and
Florida State, which turned out to be a tremendous football battle to the very
end of the game when Florida State finally won the game with 17 seconds left on
the clock and remained undefeated for the entire season.
Let me say a word about the wine. Here is a review I found on the internet that captures my thinking about the wine.
Chateau
Haut-Sorillon
This is the second Trader Joe’s
French wine to review. Trader Joe’s has a number of wines it sells in its
stores. I can’t tell if this particular wine is an exclusive wine,
however. Unlike some of these Trader Joe’s wines, this one appears to
come from a real place and a real vinyard. Like most French wines sold by
Trader Joe’s , this wine sports a very fancy and properly officious label, with
just about everything that a French wine label is expected to have. The label
indicates that the appellation is Bordeaux Superieur which requires that the
wine spend at least one year in the barrel. The wine label does not say what
sort of grapes are used to make the wine but it is marked officially as a “Red
Wine” on the label. The website
for the company suggests that their red wines are 90% Merlot and
10% Cabernet Sauvignon.
What does it taste like? The wine
has a perceptible berry aroma when it is tipped back. Unlike the last Trader
Joe’s French Bordeaux that I tried, there is no earthiness or smoke. The
tannins are fairly strong with the first sip and remain present all the way to
the last drop and swallow. But the berry aroma and flavor is right there
alongside the tannins and does not quit. I can say that the berry flavor is not
overly complex and the tannins do overpower the berry flavor. There is also
some alcohol balancing out the fruit and tannins. There is just a hint of
cassis toward the end. I would give the wine about 3.5 out of 5 stars. It is a
very serviceable wine and if it had just a bit more complexity in the flavor it
might be much better. This might be a good wine to rack for a while as some
website reviews suggest. For the price ($7-$9), it might be worth the try. This
is a very good wine for that price range and if it improves with age it might
be a steal.
The back label says,”The Chateau Haut-Sorillon has been a
family estate for generations and is located in the Commune of Abzac, just 5
km. from St. Emilion.”
Those who like St. Emilion will love this wine. It is a great bargain at $7.99 at Trader Joe’s.
Bon Appétit
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