With it being just a week into my recovery for my knee, I was able to convince my family that me staying home for Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the end of the world. Besides any house that we considered to eat at, including ours, has considerable steps I finally felt what my grandparents feel when they know a family party is that day. Huff and Puff knowing the treacherous climb it will be just to get to the main kitchen/dining area.

Since I had been softly campaigning to skip this holiday I knew that I had duck in the freezer with my name on it. Not being a big fan of turkey, I felt this was a step up in the culinary world. Not to mention the couple times that I did cook duck it came out amazing and only urged me more to try it again.

Luckily duck is one of the many obscure animal that I get at the ShopRite in Hoboken. D’Artagnan Foods has a pretty good selection for a standard supermarket. Buffalo steaks, wild boar, duck, venison chops, rabbit and the list goes on. I decided to get the half breast of the Moulard Magret Duck for this special, solo occasion.

As directed, I score the fat-side of the duck with a sharp knife, working in diagonal lines. I then work the other way to create a criss-cross or checkered pattern on the fat. This helps to render it down. I flipped it over and seasoned the breast with sea salt, pepper, parsley and basil. Fat-side down threw it in a very hot grill pan as I pre-heated the oven to 375. I also sprinkled some hemp powder (since I was out of brown rice flour and flax seed powder) from Sunburst SuperFoods, based in New Jersey. I use the powder like flour, where it creates a sort of crust when I sprinkle it on various meats.

Once the crust looked to be hardening, I flipped over and then threw the grill pan in the oven for 25 minutes. I always play it safe as I would rather undercook the duck than overcook it. Besides it cooking slightly more while it rests, I can always throw it back in the oven for a few more minutes.

Turns out I took it out in the nick of time as it was perfectly medium rare on the side. The knife slid perfectly through the duck making a hefty portion size just for me. I decided to also make some fresh asparagus in the oven, cooking them in a shallow baking sheet for about 30-35 minutes- seasoned with sea salt, pepper and sprayed with olive oil.

I also made some potato salad since I had the spuds to spare. Seasoned those with salt, pepper, olive oil and fresh diced parsley.

Delicious, delectable, and definitely a good duck decision to cook this on such a perfect day for thanks.