What I Ate: Valentine's Day

HB had night school on Valentine's Day, so I had a few hours to make a really nice meal for us. Since we both love duck, and it isn't an every day kind of food, I settled on that for our Valentine's Day meal.Though this dinner takes a few hours to cook, most of is simmering or baking time, so you aren't stuck in the kitchen the whole night.

Duck Over a White Bean Ragout with Sauteed Chard and Croutons
Adapted from Bon Appetit's  "Sauteed Duck Breast with White Bean Ragout and Escarole"

Ingredients


1 duck, gutted and patted dry


Bean Ragout:
1 can of white beans
4 garlic cloves
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup minced shallot

Croutons:

1 garlic clove

2 fresh thyme sprigs

2 cups country style bread

Chard

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

8 large garlic cloves, sliced thin

10 cups chard

1 tablespoon sherry wine vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Duck:
HB started by gutting the duck and patting it dry. He stuffed it with some shallots and mushrooms. Then he placed it in a 9x11 glass baking dish that had been buttered. After preheating the oven to 300 degrees, he placed it in the oven. I basted it every fifteen minutes and after 3 1/2 hours of cooking it was done. I turned the oven down to 200 degrees until HB came home.

Ragout:
About an hour before HB came home I started the white bean ragout. I rinsed them beans and put them into a pot. I added the garlic, bay leaf, and pepper. Then I added the six cups of broth and brought it to a boil. Make sure you use low-sodium broth - the ragout will be too salty if you don't. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for one hour. Reserve about two cups of liquid (usually I remove it using a measuring cup as opposed to draining the beans - the beans are usually to soft to drain and keeping a little liquid in the pot adds to the texture of the ragout). Remove the bay leaf and garlic (hint: the garlic spread on some leftover country bread is a delicious snack while you wait for dinner to finish!).
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute for about four minutes. Add to the mean mixture. Keep on low heat until ready for use.

Chard:
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for about one to two minutes. Add the chard and saute until wilted. If the chard gets dry, add some of the reserved bean cooking liquid. Add the sherry and season with salt and pepper.

Croutons:
Heat 3 tablespoons of duck fat in a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat (you can use the same skillet that you used for the shallots). Add the bread pieces, garlic, and thyme. Cook until crisp, about six minutes.

Once everything is finished, it's time to assemble your dish. First, add about half a cup of the ragout to the bottom of the place.  Layer the chard on top, followed by the duck breast. Sprinkle a few croutons on the top of the dish.

We saved the rest of the duck so that we can use it for duck ravioli later in the week. You can also save the duck fat in the fridge and use it as a replacement for butter or oil when cooking.

Overall it was a wonderful Valentine's Day dinner. The meal was delicious and we followed it up with cupcakes that our neighbor Crista made of us.