Duck Bresaola with Borlotti and Red Onion Jam

With the debacle over from the last post, I was eager to try another recipe from the cookbook would hopefully lift my spirits. Truthfully, I was disappointed and still a little bit bitter about the Panna Cotta not working out. But I am here to blog about the good, the bad, and ugly. I am here to make everything in this cookbook the way Mario says to make it. This blog has to be a truthful expression of the process of me working through the entire cookbook, and I can't let a little misprint get me down. So here goes nothing. 

I'd like to say that I whipped up this next recipe with the same vigor and speed as the previous ones, but the truth is that the making of this recipe took three weeks to complete. It involved doing something that I have never tried before in my career. That is, making my own cured meat. 

In the recipe notes, Mario Batali calls this recipe a 'simple and virtually foolproof way of curing meat at home'. I would say that is a very accurate description. The hardest part was having to wait three weeks for the duck breast to fully cure. 

Salumi and cured meats are a staple in Italian cuisine, as in many other cultures. The image of homemade sausage making and meat curing probably makes you think of those old world charcuterie stores with meat hanging from the ceiling, but turning your home into a deli counter was not needed. I was excited to add something new to my culinary repertoire. 

I first started with that beautiful duck from a few posts back.

Here, I had previously separated the thighs, wings, and breasts from the carcass. I've used the thighs last time, and this recipe will use the breasts exclusively. 

My next step was to mix salt, pepper, sugar, rosemary, and thyme in a bowl.

This mixture is then put on the duck breasts in a heavy coating. 

The breasts get wrapped separately in wax paper like a Christmas present for 4 days. 

After 4 days, the breasts get unwrapped and then tied with butchers twine, where they will hang (yes, literally hang) in the refrigerator for 3 weeks. You read that right. 3 weeks. I hung these at work in our walk-in cooler with a container underneath to avoid any possible mess. 

Next up was making the onion jam. Olive oil gets heated in a sauté pan until very hot and diced red onions get sautéed until golden brown. 

Orange juice is then added to the pan. 

The orange juice gets reduced until it coats the onions. Once at this stage, the jam gets cooled. 

In another mixing bowl, I combine borlotti beans, olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and vinegar and mix well. Now, I couldn't for the life in me find borlotti beans in any store near me. So I substituted roman beans instead. I could have ordered some thru amazon.com, but they sold way more than what I would have needed for this recipe so I felt like using the roman beans instead.  You could use almost any bean you want really. It's up to you. Just give the mix about an hour to absorb flavors. 

Next, it was time to plate. The bean mixture gets spooned onto the plate, with some of the jam off to the side, and I placed very thin slices of the duck 'prosciutto' over the beans. If you don't have access to a deli slicer like I do at the restaurant, you can use a very sharp knife to slice it thinly. 

Just what I needed. This tasted amazing, and my boss agreed. It was so worth the wait. The orange in the jam paired perfectly with the duck and the beans. The duck tasted just like prosciutto. I kind of wish that I had some crusty peasant bread to go with it. 

I would certainly recommend making this at home. It was easy, and if you can make it thru the 3-week curing process, you'll be left with the most amazing, freshest, and light tasting cured meat that you've ever had. The extra that I have left will be going in some of my salads this week for sure.

My next post is a very simple and quick 'recipe' that almost everyone over the age of 21 can enjoy. Until next time...