Duck Breast with Cherry-Pepper Sauce

Ingredients

• 0.5 teaspoon balsamic vinegar 
• 1 teaspoon pepper black divided freshly ground
• 2 teaspoons butter 
• 0.5 cup cherries dried
• 24 ounce duck breast meat - skin left on whole boneless thawed cut in half
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves fresh chopped
• 2 tablespoons honey 
• 0.5 cup less-sodium beef broth 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 0.5 cup ruby port sweet
• 0.5 teaspoon salt 
• 1 tablespoon shallots minced
• 14.5 ounce tart cherries in water red pitted undrained canned

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• sieve
• blender

Directions

1. Drain canned cherries through a sieve over a bowl.
2. Place 1/2 cup canned cherries and 1/4 cup cherry liquid in a blender; reserve the remaining canned cherries and cherry liquid for another use. Process cherry mixture until smooth.
3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Sprinkle duck with salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
5. Add duck to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.
6. Remove from pan; keep warm.
7. Add shallots to pan; saut 1 minute. Stir in 3/4 teaspoon pepper and next 6 ingredients (through vinegar); cook 2 minutes.
8. Remove from heat; add pureed cherry mixture and butter, stirring until butter melts. Slice duck; serve with sauce.
9. Perfect wine: Sebastiani Cabernet Sauvignon 2000 (Sonoma County), $ Tasted alone, the Sebastiani cabernet sauvignon is a sleek wine with powerful black cherry and cassis flavors plus a lot of tannic grip. Once the cabernet is paired with the duck, however, real magic happens. The richness of the duck softens the tannins, while the cherries and pepper in the sauce enliven those flavors in the wine to make it taste even more dramatic. It's an example of a truly great match.