Skip to main content

Pluot-Glazed Duck Legs and Les Cretes Torrette 2011 #ItalianFWT


This month the Italian Food, Wine & Travel - #ItalianFWT - blogging group is traveling to Valle d'Aosta. Follow along the journey with my other Valdostano fans.  You can also chat with us live this Saturday morning at 11am EST on Twitter at #ItalianFWT.  Hope to see you there!


from lifeinitaly.com

To Valle d'Aosta
Nestled in the Alps, Valle d’Aosta is a unique region of Italy as it's isolated by the mountains and highly influenced by its French neighbors. While many Valdonstani people speak all three languages, Italian and French are the official languages with Valdôtain being a common local dialect.

The Other #ItalianFWT Offerings...


In the Glass...
Valle d'Aosta is Italy's smallest winemaking region in both acreage and case production. Three-quarters of the area's wines are red, made mostly from the Pinot Noir, Gamay and Petit Rouge varieties. There is a white wine that I tried, unsuccessfully, to locate - a white wine made from the indigenous Prié Blanc grape. I'll keep looking.

But for this pairing, I tracked down a bottle of Les Cretes Torrette 2011. It's a blend of Petite Rouge (70%) and other indigenous red grapes (30%); and it's aged completely in stainless steel. Even without any barrel aging, it has an intriguing smokiness and heft. Laced with dark fruit and an delicate earthiness, I thought this would pair well with some duck. And to mirror the plum I was getting on the nose, I glazed the duck with some homemade pluot jam.


On the Plate...
Initially, I had thought to make a fonduta, a traditional fondue from Valle d'Aosta. I even bought Fontina cheese. Twice. And twice I came home to find the boys with the block of cheese, a knife, and some bread. I took that as a sign: I was not destined to make fonduta for this event.

There were several other traditional dishes from Valle d'Aosta that I longed to make, but I didn't get around to it. I will! They have a minestra di castagne e riso, a thick soup made with chestnuts and rice and  and carbonade, which is either a stew of salt-cured beef, red wine, and spices, or roe deer stewed in red wine with vegetables, herbs, grappa and cream. I do have some venison in my freezer. It's not roe deer, but it will suffice.

Pluot-Glazed Duck Legs

Ingredients
Braised Duck
  • 4 duck legs
  • 2 large onions, peeled and cubed
  • 1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and thickly sliced
  • 2 cups diced celery root
  • 1-1/2 cup stock, preferably homemade
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 1/4 cup dried blueberries
  • 1/4 cup cubed pluot + some slices reserved for plating
Quick Pluot Jam
  • 1 cup cubed pluots
  • 4 Tablespoons organic granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup red wine
  • 1/4 cup water
  • pinch of Szechuan peppercorns
  • pinch of cardamom
  • freshly ground salt
  • freshly ground pepper

Procedure
Braised Duck
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a Dutch oven, place duck legs, skin side down. Turn heat to medium. Cook for 6 to 7 minutes until the fat is rendered and the skin golden and crisped. Flip to the other side and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove the duck to a plate. Place the onions, fennel, and celery root in the Dutch oven. Lay the browned duck pieces on top. Pour in the stock, wine, and add blueberries and pluot pieces to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and place in the oven. Braise for 90 minutes.

Raise the temperature of the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Return the duck to the oven, uncovered and roast for 10 to 15 minutes until the duck is browned and the skin on top crispy.

Quick Pluot Jam
While duck is in the oven, make the jam. Place all of the ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the pluots soften and no longer hold their shape. Season to taste and continue cooking until the jam coats the back of the spoon.

Just before serving, spoon some of the pluot jam over the duck legs, spreading it thinly over the skin. Return to the oven for 3 minutes. To serve, plate the duck. Garnish with slices of pluot.

Comments

  1. I love that your boys ate the cheese! However, your plan B looks incredible! I can't believe you just whipped up a Pluot Jam. YUM! Thanks for sharing your delicious meal and wine pairing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love that your boys ate the cheese! However, your plan B looks incredible! I can't believe you just whipped up a Pluot Jam. YUM! Thanks for sharing your delicious meal and wine pairing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I always like to see what you're going to mix up in the kitchen! Mmmm duck. Everything looked delicious and I'm sure it was.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This looks delicious! The wine sounds good, too. I'd like to try a red from the region now.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a great looking dish Cam. Looks like you've got a couple of mice on your hands;-). I'm looking forward to what you do with that venison! A wonderful post!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your boys crack me up, the little chefs they are. I could kick myself for not trying Prie Blanc when I was there, but at that point in time I didn't know about it as it was before I really started my blog on Italian wine.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the look of your duck, Cam. Can't wait to give it a try!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love duck-can't wait to try this recipe. The wine sounds like a great pairing - I'll have to search that out.

    Hope you get to try the Fonduta :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies #SundayFunday

Today the Sunday Funday group is celebrating childhood favorites. Thanks to Stacy of  Food Lust People Love , Sue of  Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of  Making Miracles , and Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  for coordinating this low-stress group. Today Stacy is hosting and she's given us the following prompt: "Childhood favorites. Did you have a favorite dish growing up? It could be something your family cooked or a restaurant dish, even a Chef Boyardee canned good or packaged ingredients like Rice-a Roni or mac and cheese. Recreate THAT dish from SCRATCH for this event."  Here's the #SundayFunday childhood favorites line-up... Chili Mac from A Day in the Life on the Farm Ham and Mushroom Breakfast Burritos from Making Miracles Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Homemade Wonder Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories K-Mart Sub Sandwiches from Palatable Pastime Kempakki Dosa from Sizzling Tastebuds Meat Chilly Fry by Sn