This past weekend, I picked up two beautiful duck legs at the Cafe Rouge meat market thinking I'd give them a long, slow braise in red wine, kind of like this.
Of course, the week got away from me, and last night, I was faced with these two duck legs and only about an hour to get dinner on the table. After consulting Bittman (no help), Pepin (not much better) and the folks at Chowhound, I finally cobbled together a sear-steam-broil method in which, frankly, I had very little confidence. I mean, in theory, it should have worked, but we all know how fickle protein can be.
To start, I seasoned the duck liberally with salt & pepper. Next, in my Le Creuset dutch oven, I seared the duck on both sides until well-browned then lowered the heat to medium, put the lid on the pot, and let the meat steam for about 30 minutes (you could add wine at this point, but I didn't because I wanted to be able to reserve the duck fat).
I drained the accumulated grease, turned the duck legs over, added enough red wine to come 3/4 of the way up the side of the duck (about 1.5 cups) but leaving the skin exposed, and steamed another 15 minutes.
Next, I added a couple of handfuls of dried apricots and prunes, and let them cook down with the remaining wine. Finally, I put the duck under the broiler for about 5 minutes to let the skin crisp up, which it did, beautifully.
With the duck, we drank Cakebread Napa Valley Cabernet '01. It's a nicely balanced wine with lots of cedar-y, sawdust-y scents, a smooth, mild, black-cherry palate and a surprisingly long finish. I thought this wine was fine, but less compelling than many other $60 wines I've had. But then, I'm not a big Cal Cab drinker, either.
Overall, this was one of those meals where C and I try to remember why we go out to eat.
Then, we walked into the kitchen and remembered the answer... I'm an extraordinarily messy cook.