Great Expectations...

It's Friday!!! We are going to a very good friend's house for dinner... he always does something fantastic - and LOVES a good bottle of wine! So in honor of DINNER WITH KIM, I'm posting pics of one of the meals we shared with him at the Loft (he's a frequent guinea pig)! Extra bonus: it's a perfect fall oriented meal -- Deconstructed Pan Seared Duck Breast Lasagna, or at least that's the best name I can think of...

It started here with rolling pasta!

It ended here with the plated finale!

SEE WHAT HAPPENED IN-BETWEEN AFTER THE JUMP...
As with all my dishes, I like to combine harmonizing flavors but keep the technique simple - after rolling the pasta sheets, the remaining steps are as follows...

Pan searing duck breast - medium rare of course.

And while searing the duck, a sauce pan was busy reducing cherry infused port for the finishing glaze, while mixed baby mushrooms were waiting to be sauteed... oh, and although not shown, I also added dried Greek figs along with the mushrooms, oh and probably some thinly sliced shallots... these were all sauteed with a touch of clarified butter.

Mixed baby mushrooms waiting their turn in the saute pan.

With the duck done, the sauce reduced, the mushrooms/fig mixture sauted, the pasta cooked al dente, all I needed to complete the plate was some goat cheese and arugula.

Pasta sheet base, next sliced duck, next goat cheese, next mushrooms & figs...

I hope this looks as beautiful to you as me... of course if you're a fig hater, you may be checking out right about now, but you can always omit the figs... just saying!

Almost home... and of course the ALL important glass of wine smack dab in the middle...

Time to drizzle with port-cherry reduction, arugula standing by - just wish I'd taken it out of the plastic container for the picture, but time was a-wasting!

The only thing left is to mound some arugula on top, fold the pasta over like an envelope, and finish with a touch more port-cherry reduction - I also think peashoots would be a nice alternative to the arugula.

Final drizzle for extra dazzle - still bugged by the plastic container of arugula though!

And this is in honor of Kim Melrose, whom I'm sure will be feeding us well tonight, click on his name and you'll get to see his website... AMAZING interior designer!!! Hope your Friday is equally full of such promise of good things to come...

Happy Halloween Weekend, and Happy Eating - And if duck is on your menu DON'T forget the Woodworth Vineyards Pinot Noir!