Day 127: You Always Remember Your First

The first time I had duck was November 2002 in Quebec City. It was Thanksgiving weekend I opted to use my 4-day weekend to travel around French Canada rather than to have the traditional holiday meal with my family.

Despite shunning tradition, I had my heart set on enjoying some sort of poultry for dinner on Thanksgiving. Turkey is not a very common menu item in that part of the world, apparently, so I had to be a bit more creative – hence, the duck. I remember loving it instantly – I mean, other than China, where better to first try duck than in a quaint little French restaurant in beautiful Quebec City?

Duck has been a favorite of mine ever since and yet I was intimidated by the idea of cooking it.  With Thanksgiving around the corner once again, I was reminiscing recently about that first delicious duck and decided that tonight was the night I was going to attempt making it.  I turned to a recipe from the tried and true Williams-Sonoma Grilling Essentials cookbook. As usual, I did all of the pre-cooking prep and my husband fired it up.

Orange-Glazed Duck Breasts:

Mix the following ingredients in a bowl:

1 T orange zest

6 T orange juice

1 tsp lemon zest

3 T lemon juice

3 T olive oil

1.5 T freshly chopped tarragon

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Use half of the mixture to marinate your duck breasts for up to 4 hours.  Set the other half aside to be used as the glaze later.

Once ready to cook, heat up the reserved marinade and mix in 6 T orange marmalade.  As you grill the duck, brush it from time to time with the warm mixture.

To be honest, the duck was tasty, but not delicious.  It didn't compare to any of the duck dishes I have ever had.  The glaze was barely detectable - and considering the lengthly marinating time, there was surprisingly little citrus flavor.  I'll definitely try to cook duck again, but with a different recipe or method next time.

On the other hand, I give rave reviews to the cauliflower side dish I made.  It came from Epicurious.com and was so stellar that I have added it to this year’s Thanksgiving menu (Yes! I am hosting Thanksgiving this year!).

Click here for the original recipe, or do it my way (I left out two ingredients):

1 small-medium head of cauliflower, sliced and lightly salted

4 T butter

2 T fresh lemon juice

2 T Dijon mustard

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Lay cauliflower slices in a single layer on a baking sheet (spray sheet with Pam).

Roast cauliflower for about 15 minutes or until it begins to soften up.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan.  Add mustard and lemon juice and whisk until mixed.

Spoon mixture evenly over cauliflower and continue to roast for another 15 minutes.  Yum!!