Duck with mushroom, wine sauce and walnuts and crispy skin

I needed a dish in quite tricky circumstances. It needed to pair with a 1996 Chateau de Pommard Burgundy. It needed to be held warm while other courses were being eaten, I wanted the skin crispy...
So I hit upon this. Rich enough with robust flavors to enhance the wine.
This is not for the faint hearted. Cooking the skin separately, having enough ovens, ... Quite the adventure. But a pretty good result.

Ingredients

2 Whole duck breasts (4 halves)
salt/pepper to coat
6 shallots in small dice
1 clove garlic (minced finely)
2T all purpose flour
1 lb mixed mushrooms. Mostly white,cut into quarters, but with some oyster mushrooms added.
1 cup red wine (preferably a Pinot Noir because of the pairing)
1 cup beef stock
1 envelope gelatin
2 T bitter orange marmalade - just the jelly, not the rind. Of course, I used home made!
1 bunch of parsley (minced finely)
1 bunch chives (finely chopped)
8 walnut halves - toasted to bring out the nuttiness

Method

The method is very unconventional because of the need to hold the dish for at least 45 minutes.
Toast the walnut halves and set aside. Score the fatty side of the duck breasts deeply before coating with salt/pepper. Place the breasts skin side down in a very hot frying pan. I would not use non stick for this - and there is no need. If the pan is hot enough, the breasts won't stick. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes over high heat on the first side. Turn them and cook for a coupl eof minutes on the second side. They will not be cooked, but the skin will be a deep cherry wood color.
Remove from the heat. Pour most of the fat off (leaving a few Tbs behind) and reserving the rest.. Slice the skin from the duck breasts and slice into thin strips (1/4"). Reserve the skin.
Make the sauce by cooking the shallots in the duck fat for a couple of minutes, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the mushrooms, cover and allow to cook for about 10 minutes, gently. Stir occasionally. While the mushrooms are cooking, bloom the gelatin in the beef stock. This handy trick gives the mouthfeel of a rich veal stock, but without the effort. Thanks to America's test Kitchen!
When the mushrooms are cooked, add the flour and stir, making a roux. Add the wine, the stock and the orange marmalade and reduce the sauce by about half.
Before serving fry the duck skin strips in the duck fat until they are crispy (a guest described them like chicharrones). Sear the exposed side of the duck breasts in the fat used to fry the skin. cover and place in a 450 degree oven for 3 or 4 minutes. Remove immdeiately to a warm oven to hold.
When ready to serve, stir most of the parsley/chives into the sauce. heat through. Slice the breasts thinly, place in a small bowl, layer the saue on, sprinkle a little of the remaining parsley/chive mixture on top as a garnish. Decorate with walnut half and serve
 

The Parmigiano Reggiano - and where it led

My favorite cheese store in the Dallas area is Sigels - on Inwood Rd. and Beltline in Addison. The heart and soul is Theresa Magee who stores wonderful cheeses and is always ready with a story (or 3). The Saturday before Thanksgiving she cracks a wheel of aged Parmigiano Reggiano and gives all the assembled company a taste. This year it was a 7 year old wheel. Of course Madame and I had to be there. Naturally, while we were there, we had to taste what was on offer and buy some other cheeses too. We came away with some beautiful Colston Basset Stilton, an Epoisse, and of course the some of the Parmigiano Reggiano. It was the Stilton that provided inspiration for Monday's dinner, though.

I had been recently to the Dallas Farmers' Market as well and had bought some rather disappointing pears. So, the question was "How do I make the pears edible, and incorporate them into a dinner?" With the Stilton it was a no brainer. Poach the pears (the left over red wine from the night before helped here), toast some walnuts, make a simple salad, and pan cook chicken breasts, using the pear poaching liquid as the sauce for the chicken. Shopping time (for the salad ingredients and chicken 35 minutes), prep+cooking time 80 minutes. The pears were poaching while I was at the store buying the salad and the chicken.

Ingredients:
3 firm pears
1/2 bottle dry red wine 6 oz Port
1 dried red chile pepper
1T Sugar
5 oz walnuts (toasted)
2 oz Stilton (could use other blue cheese)
Assorted salad leaves
3T Vinaigrette (made with a mild vinegar and no onion/garlic)
2 Chicken breasts (skin and bone on)
1T Canola or other neutral oil

Method:
Peal and core the pears - I use a melon baller from the bottom of the pear to core them, leaving them whole. Bring the red wine, port, sugar, and chile to a simmer, and lower in the pears. Poach for about 30 minutes. Turn the pears over after about 20 minutes to ensure they are poached evenly.

When the pears are poached, remove and reserve the poaching liquor.

Toast the walnuts until slightly crunchy on the outside. Be careful, they burn easily.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 - the chicken breasts will finish in the oven.

Remove the bones and the tenderloin from the chicken breasts. (I buy the breasts with bone and skin because I want the skin). Save the tenderloins and bones for another use - I freeze them and make stock, but then I am a bit compulsive! Pat the chicken breasts dry and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. The breasts need to be dry or they don't brown properly.

Add the oil to a hot skillet (preferably not non-stick). When the oil is showing wisps of smoke add the chicken breasts skin side up to the hot oil and sear for about 3-4 minutes. Flip the chicken over and sear the second side. Once the chicken has seared on both sides, transfer to the oven and cook until done. This depends on size of chicken breasts and their starting temperature, but for the cold, medium sized breasts that I used it was about 7 minutes in the oven.The FDA recommends an internal temperature of 185 for poultry.

Remove the chicken from the skillet, and leave to rest - covered with foil. While the chicken is resting, empty most of the chicken fat from the skillet, and then deglaze with the reserved poaching liquor. Reduce the liquor to around 3/4 cup - it should become quite syrupy. Transfer the chicken back to the skillet and coat with the sauce.

Assemble the sliced pears, Stilton, and walnuts on a plate. Make a small pile of the salad leaves, and drizzle the vinaigrette over. Take the chicken out of the pan, remove the skin and slice the breasts across the grain in 1/2 inch slices. Place the hot chicken on top of the dressed salad leaves, and serve.

For further eye appeal, some redness - maybe some cherry tomatoes or roasted red pepper would be appropriate.

Serve with the same red wine as in the poaching liquid.