Thanks

Time was up. In four days I was flying to Houston for the Bash and I needed to take a pair of gifts. I hadn’t been procrastinating, quite the reverse, I’d been pondering what to take for months. But it was difficult decision. Judi had arranged my plane ticket and Sallie was putting me up at her house for three days — so I needed something special and food-related.

Judi had once given me a bottle of Texas wine and I considered taking her a bottle of Tennessee wine. But revenge didn’t seem appropriate and it didn’t solve the problem of what to give Sallie — who had certainly done nothing to deserve a bottle of local wine. I was just plain stumped.

Then on the Monday before the Bash I finally

bought a copy of Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn. The book had been on my list for some time and had finally made it to the top. By the time I went to bed Monday night I knew what the gifts would be — smoked duck breasts.

Tuesday morning I picked up a couple of breasts at the local equivalent of Whole Foods and by noon they were in a brine. Wednesday evening I pulled out my stove-top smoker and smoked them with cherry wood chips. Then I froze them.

Ruhlman’s recipe calls for six breasts, but I only did two and made half as much brine as he called for. I also subbed dried herbs for the fresh called for in the original recipe.

Smoked Duck Breasts
(adapted from Charcuterie)

2 ea whole Pekin duck breasts, skin on
Brine:
1 qt water
6 tbsp Morton’s kosher salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp pink (curing) salt
1/4 c maple syrup
1/4 c Madeira
2 tsp dried thyme
1 ea bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp juniper berries
1 tsp rubbed sage

Combine the brine ingredients in a large pot over medium high heat and bring to a good simmer, stirring occasionally to dissolve salt. Turn off heat and cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold.

Place duck breasts in two zippered freezer bags and divide the brine between them. Refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours, turning bags on occasion to distribute brine.

Rinse breasts, pat dry, and place on a rack in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 12 to 24 hours.

Hot smoke the breasts to an internal temperature of 160F. This took about an hour using the Cameron smoker.

Ruhlman says the flavor is ham-like, but my first reaction was “bacon.” However it’s not precisely bacon, it’s more subtle. Sliced very thin, the duck would be wonderful on a cracker or slice of baguette with, as Ruhlman suggests, blue cheese. I think it would also pair well with chèvre. But what I really want to do is cube it and add it to this bean dish — or any dried bean dish.

On a side note, because I used the stove-top smoker, the rendered duck fat accumulated in a pan. A couple of nights ago I fried some potatoes in it. Duck fat is great with potatoes, but smoked duck fat is even better.

I’m going to do this again, but my next project from Charcuterie is bacon. I have a pork belly on order.

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