HARVEST “SALAD”
Once the weather properly cools and it’s really “Fall”, I can pretty much guarantee I’ll gain a good 3-4 pounds. In about a week. Something about the heart warming smells and tastes of slow cooked, rich foods that makes me not care (too much) about a slight increase in girth.
Out comes my Dutch Ovens (love Staub) and in goes Cassoulet, red wine braised Short Ribs, fresh baked breads, Moroccan lamb apricot tagines, and Minestrone. Dishes that after a bit of leg-work, take hours to simmer or bake. Filling our home with love and physical heat… and gifts me a bit of chub.
I keep saying, next week, I’ll go back to making kale salads three nights a week. Next week…. But not yet!
And this latest find of a recipe is soooooo worth the two solid pounds it temporarily added to both my husband and I. As Dean ate last night, he alternated between “oh wow. Oh wow, this is good” and “this is NOT a salad.”
But I promise, worth every bite! I’ve tweaked it from the original Bon Appetite recipe to fit our more Italian tastes for heavier use of herbs and garlic…. Aside from the slow roasting of duck, the whole assembly takes about 20 minutes.
HARVEST “SALAD” with Duck Confit
Serves 4
DUCK: This will take some time in the oven. Take your duck breast or 2-3 duck legs. Optional: Trim unnecessary fat. Pat the duck dry and season liberally with kosher salt. Tuck fresh sprigs of thyme (at least 5-7 sprigs) and course chopped garlic cloves (at least 4) around each duck piece and place snugly in a shallow tureen. Cover with tin foil and marinate in the fridge for at least an hour. Heat oven to 325’ and slow roast duck, still covered in tin foil, for 3&1/2 hours or so. Remove from oven, uncover, and begin assembling salad.
SALAD: In a sauce pan, hard-boil 2 eggs. Takes 7 minutes once water is boiling. Remove eggs from water and let cool on counter.
- In a small bowl, create your dressing:
- 4-5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2-3 cloves chopped fresh garlic
- Pinch kosher or sea salt and fresh cracked pepper
- 1 tspn stone ground mustard
- 1 tspn Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons good extra virgin olive oil
Let sit and marinate. Whisk with a fork occasionally.
In a large pretty bowl, collect:
- 2 large handfuls fresh arugula
- 2 large handfuls spinach or baby kale
- 2 hard-boiled eggs broken apart (rustic style) by hand – its okay if yolk is not cooked thru entirely
- Crumbled good quality blue cheese
- Optional: thinly sliced red onions to taste (I think too strong)
- Your duck “confit” – using your hands shred the warm duck meat over the top of everything in the salad.
CROUTONS: In a small sauce pan, pour in the rendered fat from the shallow tureen. If you don’t think you have enough to toast croutons, add two or three pats of butter or good olive oil. Toast 2 slices bread. Using your hands, coarsely crumble the toast and quick fry them in the hot duck fat and butter/olive oil. Season liberally with salt. Add to salad.
Whisk your dressing one more time and pour over salad. Toss and serve.
Pair with our 2009 Annadel Estate Winery’s “Anni’s Blend”. A medium bodied red wine goes well with this warm duck salad and really brings home the warmth of incoming Fall.