IMBB 26/WBW 21: Duck Confit with Two Wine Pairings
Duck Confit with Fava Beans,
Fingerling Potato Medallions, and Garlic Scapes
Photo by Melissa Schneider.
If this were a physical auditorium instead of a virtual one, and I asked you to name my favorite food, a few thousand hands would shoot up. When Lenn and Alberto announced a joint edition of the monthly food blogging community events Is My Blog Burning and Wine Blogging Wednesday, I knew what I'd make for the Favorite Food with Wine category.
An Obsession with Duck Confit
We almost always have duck confit in the refrigerator these days, as I try to reproduce Curt's version. For those keeping score at home, we're eating the third batch since my lesson in Jojo's back kitchen. I'm comfortable with the curing step, and I decided to try the legs from foie gras ducks. This did produce a more succulent leg, but I need to adjust the confit step for the new legs: Mine still aren't as flaky and tender as Curt's. Melissa assures me, however, that my current legs are noticeably better than even my good duck confit of the past.
Duck confit is meaty with a lot of fat and, in my case, an underlying spicy quality from the cure. You want a wine with a medium-heavy body to match the weight of the duck leg, pronounced flavor to stand up to the rich meat flavor, and a good acidity to combat the fat and refresh the palate after a somewhat salty bite.
WTN: 1996 Marchesi di Barolo, Estate BottlingLast weekend, I rummaged through our rack for an interesting bottle and extracted a 1996 Marchesi di Barolo from Italy's Piemonte region. We bought it on our honeymoon, and let it sit in our offsite storage until recently.
A good barolo, a tannic, meaty product of the Nebbiolo grape, benefits from a decade or more of age. This barolo, amassed from the glitzy winery's vineyards rather than one special plot, lacked that depth. The aromas of leather, sweat, and loam played against a backdrop of sherry-esque notes, suggesting oxidation. Notable acidity and modest tannins overshadowed the mild leather flavor and hints of anise on the palate, and one had to really look for the slight dark cherry notes on the medium finish. The wine was good enough, but lacked balance.
Photo by Melissa Schneider.
WTN: 2001 Ravenswood Cooke Vineyard Zinfandel, Sonoma Valley
With so much duck confit in the refrigerator, we tried a second wine last night. The volcanic soil of Sonoma's Cooke Vineyard produces an austere Zinfandel, relative to other expressions of the grape. There's not a lot of depth in this bottle—cherries, cherries, everywhere—but the vibrant fruit, light tannins, and good acidity co-exist in a well-balanced wine. There's a tiny bit of heat on the finish, enough to warm your throat as you sip, but not enough to overwhelm.
- Jojo Gets The Chron's Nod
Congratulations to Curt and Mary Jo for the nice write-up of Jojo in today's Chronicle. Carol Ness gives a shout-out to the duck confit, which I've been patiently working towards ever since Curt taught me his method. (I'm getting there, but...
- Comparing Duck Legs
Photo by Melissa Schneider. Having made batch after batch of duck confit in the last few months, I'm convinced that legs from foie gras ducks produce a superior product. However, that limits your purchasing options—there are only four foie...
- Relearning Duck Confit And My Recipe Philosophy
Duck Confit... I love duck confit, legs (usually) salt-cured and cooked slowly in fat. I order it whenever I see it; I try different recipes at home. But the duck confit at Jojo is my benchmark. I rarely find duck confit as good as Curt's, even when...
- Maybe
I don't like Brussels sprouts. I have repeated this mantra for as long as I can remember. And yet. There is a picture in Thomas Keller's Bouchon that beckons me. The picture shows a piece of duck confit resting on a bed of Brussels sprouts....
- Damn Good Duck Confit
I recently bought Bouchon, the cookbook from Thomas Keller's bistro of the same name. Flipping through it, I was drawn to the recipe for duck confit. Duck confit, made from meat that has been salted and then cooked and preserved in fat, is one of...