Rooftop Gourmet

Believe it or not, I made this entire dish using only four ingredients. That’s what’s great about cooking. As long as you have quality, fresh, and flavorful ingredients, you can create an elegant meal with just a little bit of  imagination.

As I’ve done in the past, I take classic dishes such as the Italian’s Veal Saltimbocca alla Romana and put my own modern twist on it. Saltimbocca translates to, “jump in the mouth”, because that’s exactly what all of the flavors do. Classically, it consists of a paper thin, veal cutlet that has a layer of prosciutto and fresh sage leaves, which is then rolled up and cooked in butter.

I decided to use a duck breast instead of the veal because I had a gorgeous bottle of Pinot Noir at home that I was excited to try. Duck and Pinot are one of my favorite combinations, right up there with Brady and Moss, and Godfather 1 and 2. Since duck breasts have a pretty decent sized layer of fat on top, I opted to leave the prosciutto at the deli counter. Besides, the only thing that I can think of that would be better than a paper thin slice of Prosciutto di Parma melting on my tongue, is a piece of crispy duck fat.

Whole Foods didn’t have prepared duck breasts, so I was forced to buy a whole duck and butcher it myself, which I don’t mind because I save the bones and miscellaneous parts for sauces. It’s been a while since I’ve deboned Daffy, but after a few minutes, I managed to produce two beautiful filets.

I scored the top of the skin in a criss-cross pattern, being careful not to puncture the bright purple flesh beneath. Scoring the skin side prevents the fat from curling and separating from the breast meat as it cooks.

I placed the breast, skin side down in a cold sautepan and turn the heat on just so slightly. This was somewhat tricky, because I needed to crisp up the skin without cooking the actual meat. Once the pan gets warm, the fat in the skin starts to release tons of aromatic duck fat juices and actually fries the skin it its own fat. This is the part where I get flustered because the smell of duck fat sends me into a frenzy. Duck fat ranks right above pork fat on my scale of most delicious animal fats (yes, I have a list of those).

After the skin was golden brown, I removed the breast from then pan and threw it into the fridge to stop the cooking. Once it was cool, I suffocated it underneathth a few layers of plastic wrap and pounded it into a paper thin circle.

 I seasoned the breast meat with salt and pepper and layered the freshly snipped sage leaves from my herb garden on top. These were the biggest sage leaves I have ever seen, I don’t know what Siobhan is feeding my pot of herbs but they’re multiplying like Gremlins. I tightly rolled the breasts, crispy skin, and sage up into a tube and secured them with some butchers twine.

 Two ingredients, duck and sage, were set aside and ready to fire, but first I had to make my sauce. Veal Saltimbocca alla Romana is traditionally served with Marsala wine or a lemon caper sauce but since I was using a duck breast, I needed to adjust the flavors a bit. Duck tends to be slightly gamey and of course fatty, hence the amazing layer that protects the breast, so sweeter sauces usually compliment it nicely.

 I chose to make a blueberry compote, which is incredibly simple to do. A compote is a 17th century English dessert that was transformed into a sauce by the French. It is essentially a pot of fresh fruit, sugar, and water that is slowly simmered until it reaches a jam-like consistency. This is exactly how I make homemade cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving. I just tossed some fresh blueberries into a sauce pan, covered it in water, and then dumped about a cup of sugar in to top it off.

After about 30 minutes of bubbling, the sugar and water turns into a thick simple syrup and the fresh blueberries pop and start gurgling. It thickens right before your eyes and is not only great with game birds, but vanilla ice cream and toast as well. I finished searing the Saltimbocca in a pan of butter along with the legs that I braised in their own juices for about two hours. The succulent leg meat was falling off the bone and dripping with savory duck fat.

I made sure the center of the roulade was still pink and medium rare because if you overcook duck it gets extremely tough. It seems strange applying temperatures to birds because we’re so used to chicken and salmonella poisoning, but duck can be and should be served medium rare. Not only does it taste better, it is easier to chew. I plated the roulade with a massive blob of the antioxidant-rich, sweetened blueberry compote. The combination of sweet and savory was heavenly.

I popped a bottle of the brand new Lot 20 Reserve Label Pinot Noir from my friends at 90+ Cellars. If you’re not familiar with the company, you’re missing out. Value…value…value is the key word here. 90+ Cellars cold calls distinguished wineries with prestigious reviews and asks if they have any leftover wine. Due to the current economic state, certain wineries have an extra thousand cases of a certain vintage that Restaurant X usually buys, but couldn’t afford it this season. The two parties strike a deal, 90+ Cellars slaps their label on the wine along with a specific lot number, and delivers the savings right on to the consumer. The only catch is, once a certain lot is gone…. it’s gone forever.

I have been waiting in anticipation for Lot 20 to be released, and it’s finally here! Knowing that the actual value of the juice is around $45.00 retail, this bottle for under twenty is going to sell like hot cakes. I opened the wine with my duck Saltimbocca and let me tell you… this baby lived up to the hype. The winemaker has spent the last forty years making Pinot in California so he is no rookie. The Sonoma County fruit is hand picked and aged in oak to give it some extra body and structure. On the nose, the wine gives off aromas of fresh strawberries and cranberries.

On the palate, the wine is velvety and elegant with loads of bing cherry and sexy cinnamon. The finish never ends with smooth tannins and hints of vanilla. This wine is a tease… it starts up voluptuous, sultry, and erotic, but then finishes classy and structured. I couldn’t have met a better match for my duck breast with blueberry compote. The Saltimbocca was jumping in my mouth and the wine made me want to start jumping on the table in excitement.