For Valentine’s Day, may I offer a suggestion? If you don’t dine out at one of the fine restaurants in town because you can’t get into your favorite (I hear D-Bar has reserved all three seatings already), make duck breast for your paramour. I’ll just throw it out there – duck is a sexy meat. It is even sexier when it is prepared medium rare with spicy berbere and tangy pomegranate glaze.

Berbere and pomegranate duck breast with barley and cauliflower risotto

I am a huge fan of duck and it is a shame that you don’t see more of it in Denver. There are of course some key exceptions. Recently, I had a fantastic duck confit sandwich for lunch at the Squeaky Bean and had a great duck breast with duck confit at Twelve.

Duck has a bad reputation in healthy eating circles though. It could be that the meat has a healthy layer of fat and skin attached – two things that send the boneless, skinless chicken fanatics to the treadmill in fear. It could also be that duck seems a little exotic and must therefore be difficult to prepare. While duck breast is fattier than chicken, it also has so much more flavor per ounce. And believe it or not, it is easier to prepare a juicy breast of duck than it is to prepare a juicy breast of chicken.

Duck is not the easiest meat to find at your local, giant chain grocery store. I recently tried to find it at one of these stores and was shown a box of turducken. While I applaud the grocery store for their variety in prepared frozen meals, I was not interested in picking out the duck, leaving a turen. I should have just gone to my stand-bys for meat close to my Denver zip code: Fred’s Fine Meats, Marczyk’s Fine Foods and Tony’s Market (which also works for those in the Deep South of the metro area).

I happened to have recently reacquainted myself with duck when I prepared it for a dinner at the Plus Gallery. The dinner combined the art of Jenny Morgan with a five course dinner inspired by her works. Her portraiture work has a raw sensuality and when I was conceiving of the menu, I immediately thought of duck to serve to the 16 or so patrons.  The work also has strong pink and red tones, so I wanted to season the duck with something that would reflect the passion and energy of the paintings. Berbere was a logical choice.

Berbere spice blend and pomegranate molasses

Berbere is ruddy-colored spice blend from Ethiopia. It is typically used in lamb or goat dishes and has a layered smoky, spicy and sweet taste. I love it and often use it instead of chili powder in dishes as it is blended without salt and is more complex in its character. You can find berbere in any of the Ethiopian groceries along Colfax or at Savory Spice Shop.

I also used pomegranate molasses to glaze the duck. The tangy sweetness counterbalanced the smoky spice of the berbere and both cut through the richness of the duck breast. It was like a haute barbecue sauce glaze for the duck. Paired with barley and cauliflower risotto, you have an easy, delicious dish for your sweetheart. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Eat well. Live well.
Brian

Recipes:

• Berbere and pomegranate-glazed duck breast
• Barley and cauliflower risotto