Day 365: Pan-Seared Duck Breast & Roasted Red Pepper Cheesecake

I have been thinking for some time about what I would make for my last day cataloging my dinners and recipes.  This past week I let people make requests for what I made, and I thought that Day 365 should be something I've always wanted to make, or something "epic."  You know how in the movie "Julie & Julia" Julie's last meal was Julia Child's beef bourguignon--a classic and elegant dish?  I thought of doing that, but I've made that meal before, albeit a long a time ago and it never made it onto this blog.  It was hard for me to come up with something I've "always wanted to make" because I feel like this whole journey has been about what I've always wanted to make.  But I finally got the idea--duck.  I can't even remember if I've eaten duck at a restaurant before.  But whenever I hear of someone having it, it sounds so fancy and wonderful.  So that's what I made, pan-seared duck breast.  I researched some recipes to find one that I thought looked yummy.  I stumbled upon this Anne Burrell  recipe that looked good, and it was delicious!

For "grown-up time" I served the appetizer that I had wanted to serve for Randy's birthday but wasn't able to.  This recipe was from Giada De Laurentiis, but I didn't follow it perfectly.  For starters, she requires a 4-inch spring form pan.  Who has a 4-inch spring form pan?!?!  My smallest is an 8-inch.  So I used a loaf pan and adjusted the cooking time accordingly.  Secondly, we ran out of eggs this morning.  I go shopping tomorrow.  I had already sent Randy to the store to get a few things, not realizing that eggs was one of the things I needed him to get.  So I decided to be inventive and used about a tablespoon of mayonnaise instead.  The appetizer was still delicious!!!  Here's the recipe:

Roasted Pepper Cheesecake
Remember how I said that cheesecake is Randy's favorite dessert?  That's why I thought it would be fitting to serve this as an appetizer on his birthday, but that didn't happen.  But it was still an excellent addition to tonight's meal!

4 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz ricotta cheese
2 oz goat cheese, at room temperature
1 egg (or 1 TB of mayo, like I used)
salt, pepper
2 jarred roasted red peppers, sliced
1/2 cup apricot preserves
pita bread

Preheat the oven to 350*.  In a food processor, combine the 3 cheeses, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper.  Pulse until smooth.  Carefully fold in the sliced red peppers, being careful not to overmix and turn the cheese mixture pink!
Line a bread pan with parchment paper, and pour in the cheese mixture.  Place the pan in a larger pan and pour hot water around the bread pan, until it comes up about halfway.  Bake for about 30 minutes.  (If you are using a 4-inch spring-form pan, you probably want to bake it longer, like 45 minutes.)
Let cool and then refrigerator for a few hours.  Flip the cake out of the pan and top with the apricot preserves.
Cut the pita bread into wedges and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Bake at 425* for about 10 minutes, or until crispy.  Serve with the cheesecake.

Strawberry Margaritas
Combine equal parts strawberry syrup and tequila, and half as much triple sec or orange liquor.  Shake and serve over ice.  Garnish with orange zest and mint leaves.
To make strawberry syrup, heat frozen strawberries in a sauce pan.  Add 1-2 TB of sugar.  Cook until strawberries are soft.  Mash strawberries up and then strain the liquid into a jar, removing the solid pieces of fruit.

Pan-Seared Duck Breast with Grape Sauce
I knew going into this that the toughest and most important part of cooking a good duck breast was rendering the fat.  Duck has a very thick layer of fat between the meat and the skin which needs to be rendered completely.  The skin should be crispy, but obviously not burnt.  This is a slow process, when compared to cooking other meats.  Randy thought it was absolutely perfect, and I'll admit that the meat and skin of my duck were to die for.  But I did think our meal could have benefited from a minute more of fat-rendering, but then again, I've always had a really weird thing about meat fat in a meal.  All in all, we definitely want to have this again.  The duck was absolutely delicious--easily my favorite meat, now.  Super flavorful and melt-in-your-mouth good!

4 duck breasts (I only used 3--those babies aren't cheap!)

salt
olive oil
2 cups red seedless grapes
2 strips of bacon, chopped
2 TB red wine vinegar
1/2 cup port wine
1 1/2 cups chicken stock

Score the skin of the duck breasts with a sharp paring knife.  Season them with salt, and let the breasts sit out for about 10-15 minutes to come to room temperature after being in the refrigerator.  Place a little olive oil in a skillet and then the duck breasts, skin-side down.  Bring the skillet up to medium heat and cook them low and slow to render all the duck fat--about 25 minutes or so.  Then flip the breasts over and cook for another 10 minutes on the meat side.  If you want to finish them in the oven, go ahead, but you may not need to.  Remove the breasts and let them rest for a good 10 minutes.  Add the grapes and the bacon to the pan and cook on medium-high until the grapes are splitting open and the bacon is crispy.  Remove half of the grapes and set aside.  Add the red wine vinegar and the port to the pan and cook until the wine is reduced by half.  Add the chicken stock and continue cooking until that is reduced by half.  Add the grapes back to the pan.  Slice the duck breasts in strips and pour the grape sauce over them.