"Duck the halls" for Big J's Birthday

One of my food resolutions was to try preparing new meats and duck fits the bill, so to speak! Actually, we celebrated Big J's 40th birthday yesterday and I made the duck especially for him -- he's been asking me to do it for a while.

After combing through recipes, I decided on Duck with Raspberries, with Braised Fingerling Potato Coins, steamed asparagus, and an Oregon Pinot Noir.

Honestly, the duck wasn't as has hard as I anticipated. The key, of course, is to score the skin to help render the fat. The other key is to not overcook it, which, unfortunately, I did just slightly. I misread the recipe and instead of broiling 4-6 inches from the broiler for two minutes, I kept the pan in the middle of the oven for 4 - 6 minutes. So I am quite sure that I could have had crispier skin with just the right temperature meat had I read the directions correctly.

This was also the first time that I have made a pan sauce with demi glace -- oh what a wonder! It was rich and delicious, but not overwhelming due to the addition of raspberries and the raspberry vinegar.

And a note about the potatoes -- this recipe is deceptively simple, but produces the most divine, melt-in-your-mouth potatoes that I have ever tasted. Even little j, who doesn't ordinarily care for potatoes of any kind, loved them.

I predict that there will be more duck at our house in the future, and definitely more of the potatoes!