Duck duck goose

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Last weekend when I stopped by Headhouse Square market, I picked up a lovely duck breast from Griggstown Quail.  I’m always a little hesitant to cook duck at home.  I’ve cooked it a few times and it’s always very good, but I’m a little out of my element and just not very confident about it.  This time around I decided to follow the instructions for pan-roasting a duck breast at Cookthink.

I served the duck with cherry sauce, using fresh cherries I picked up from Linvilla.  Also included in the meal: roasted cipollini onions and sauted garlic scapes.  I rarely make cipollini onions, but when I saw them at the farmer’s market I couldn’t resist picking them up.  They’re so cute!

Roasted Cipollini Onions

One handful of cipollini onions
2 sprigs of rosemary
1/2 c. red wine
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Boil a saucepan full of water and drop in onions; boil for 30 seconds.  Drain, cool, and peel onions.  Arrange in a single layer in a roasting pan and top with rosemary sprigs.  Whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over onions.  Roast for 30 minutes, flipping onions halfway through.

Strain cooking liquid into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for three minutes - you should get a slightly thickened sauce for the onions.

Where it all came from:
duck, Griggstown Quail Farm, 56 miles
apple cider, Linvilla - 10 miles
red wine, Chaddsford winery - 20 miles
cherries, Linvilla - 10 miles
thyme, my garden - 0 miles
cipollini onions, Culton Organics - 86 miles
rosemary, my garden - 0 miles
honey, Bee Natural - 59 miles
garlic scapes, my garden - 0 miles
butter, homemade from Dutch Way Dairy cream - 100 miles

not local: olive oil, salt and pepper