A celebratory supper doesn’t have to mean an all-day cooking binge. Sometimes what makes the supper special is serving something slightly unexpected.
A neighbor recently let slip that her birthday was on the horizon, so I asked her to allow me to make a birthday dinner for her. She demurred at first — “oh no, no, that’s too much trouble!” — but I sensed that the idea delighted her, so pressed her a bit. After a mere moment’s hesitation, she agreed.
I knew that I had two skin-on duck breasts from Top Knot Farms in Benson in the freezer, stashed away for just such an occasion.
“Will you eat duck?” I asked her, because I had a memory of a long-ago failure of a dinner when I hadn’t asked my guests about their preferences beforehand.
That dinner, planned for a chef friend, his girlfriend, and one of my female friends ended in disaster. The two women guests wouldn’t even try the grilled quail, because the birds were small; nor would they eat the grilled lamb that followed because neither, they announced, would “eat baby animals.” My chef friend and I enjoyed both, but I felt inhospitable because the women had only salad to eat.
My neighbor, however, had no such qualms. “Duck is one of my favorites!” she said, her eyes alight.
As I drafted the menu, I realized that I had everything already on hand. We’d start with a small serving of very soupy shrimp ceviche, almost like gazpacho. Then the duck breasts, rubbed with a smokey spice mixture and grilled, to be served with a polenta made from Ramona Farms coarse-ground corn meal.
Because I like to cook seasonally, I planned to enrich the polenta with chopped roasted Hatch chiles and the nubbin of pepper jack I’d come across the day before. A salad of mixed seasonal greens tossed with a light, lemony vinaigrette would round out the entrée.
As for dessert, a birthday cake seemed over-the-top with that menu. Instead, I thought, some of the superb fig gelato from Frost, Tucson’s authentic gelateria, would be refreshing. I had only taken a small serving from the quart I’d picked up earlier, so it, too, was on hand.
The most time-consuming item on the menu would be the polenta, but since I now routinely make polenta in the oven, it wouldn’t require much attention. If you’d like to prepare polenta this way, the ratio is 1 cup polenta to 4 cups of water, plus a little butter and salt; double this if you’re serving more than a couple of people.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees, and place the water, salt, polenta, and butter into a 1 1/2-quart baking dish. Bake, uncovered, for an hour and 20 minutes. Stir and bake 10 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and stir in grated cheese. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
It was a merry evening, and my guest was well pleased. As we lolled at the table after eating, I shared my favorite fourth-grade riddle: What is the difference between a last will and testament and a guest who has eaten well? The first is signed and dated; the second is dined and sated.
Grilled duck breasts with cowboy rub
Makes 2 servings
If you don’t feel like firing up the grill, you can also cook the duck breasts in a heavy skillet on the stovetop. You may serve the duck breasts whole or sliced; I think carving the cooked breasts makes for more elegant service.
Ingredients
For the rub:
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules (or coffee blitzed into a powder in a blender)
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
1½ teaspoons cracked black pepper
1½ teaspoons garlic powder
2 duck breasts, skin on
1 tablespoon olive oil
Preparation
Make the rub: Combine the coffee powder, onion powder, salt, smoked paprika, brown sugar, black pepper, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Set aside.
Prepare the duck breasts by scoring the fat side, cutting into, but not through, the fat, in a cross-hatch pattern of lines about 1/2 inch apart. Rub all sides of each breast with the combined seasonings. Discard any remaining rub mixture. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
To cook, rub the grill grate with the olive oil (or heat it over medium-high heat in a heavy skillet). Heat the grill to 500 degrees by building a hot fire on one side of the grill. Place the duck breasts skin-side down on the other side of the grill.
Close the lid and cook the duck for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast reads 130 degrees. If cooking in a skillet, cook skin-side down for 10 minutes without moving, then turn and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast reads 130 degrees.
Allow the duck breasts to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
