I think if I had to choose to cook and serve but one kind of red meat going forward, I might choose duck breast, and this is a wonderful (and very simple and easy) way to prepare it. I’ve done it many times, usually varying the finishing touches with various herbs, or alliium.  This time I had some winter savory, a good stand-in for the almost-classic rosemary.

• a small duck breast (11 ounces) from Pat LaFrieda at Eataly, the fatty side scored, covered with salt, pepper and a bit of turbinato sugar infused over time with a vanilla bean, then left standing for about half an hour before it was pan-fried, finished with Long Island lemon from Fantastic Gardens in the Union Square Greenamarket, chopped winter savory from Whole Foods, and a bit of olive oil
• collard greens from Rogowski Farm, cut in a rough chiffonade, braised in a heavy pot in which crushed garlic garlic from S. & S.O. Produce Farms had been allowed to sweat with a bit of olive oil, finished with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil
• boiled German Butterball potatoes from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm, boiled in salted water, drained, steamed dry, rolled with a small amount of olive oil, freshly-ground black pepper, and pea sprouts from from Lucky Dog Organic
• the wine was a French red, Anne de Joyeuse Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
• the music was an extraordinary piece, ‘Suikinkutsu’ [water-zither-cave], by ethnomusicologist Steven Feld