Canard (duck) with crispy skin, mûres (blackberries), port reduction, fleurs de rosemary (a sprig of rosemary in bloom, plucked from the front yard).
Here is how I made the duck:
It is a standard rare duck breast with crispy fat. First, score the layer of fat with a knife in a checkerboard pattern. Salt and pepper the fat side, let it sit maybe 20 minutes. Place it fat side down into a cold pan (do not use a non-stick pan). Turn on to medium heat, it takes about eight minutes, and you can definitely tell when it is ready to flip. It will be golden brown and crispy. Flip, keep on medium for maybe another five minutes. Pull off, set on a plate and rest the duck for eight to ten minutes. This part is important. Then slice thin, drizzle sauce and BOOM!
Duck, I say.
And the sauce:
As the duck was cooking, I used about 2 cups of 6 Grapes Port by Grahams. Added a splash (maybe half cup) of balsamic vinegar and a literal pinch of salt. Put it in a sauce pan on medium to boil down, about 15 minutes till it thickened.
This is where I learned something new from my Son-in-Law, Andrew. I reduced the port until it was "nappe" which is the French term for a sauce that coats the food evenly. Simply put, stir the sauce then dip in a metal spoon. Turn it over and draw a line down the middle with your finger. If the line stays clearly, it is nappe.
Then I stirred in a half jar of (good quality) blackberry-blueberry preserves. You know, it melts down into the sauce. Kept it on low about five more minutes.
When I played the duck, I drizzled on the sauce, threw on some fresh blackberries to look nice, and added a sprig from our rosemary plant (with the blue flowers). The flowers tasted FANTASTIC with the duck and sauce.
I liked this enough that I would replace my earlier recipe here with this one.