The week before last I was asked to come and cook for a good friend of mine and his roommate. I gave my friend–who I love to tease and challenge–a complicated grocery list that would send him shopping in at least three places, one of which was Japan Town in San Francisco. He procured everything exactly as I wanted (to my surprise, as I was prepared to improvise for missing items), and I showed up with a great, inexpensive Falanghina to sip on while cooking & eating the first course, and a great 1998 Norman Cabernet Sauvignon to accompany our duck breast with persimmons and medallions of roasted Japanese yam course.

I prepared  Tuna con Yuzu, and followed it with whole, head-on shrimp pan fried and served family style with warm buckwheat noodles covered in hazelnut oil & toasted sesame seeds. Had I not been a few glasses of wine in, it would have been garnished with a tarragon sprig. The main event, though, of this three-course savory meal was the pan-seared, oven-finished duck breast.

It was my first time cooking duck at home, and I felt after a whole year of watching P effortlessly cook duck breast from Japan town medium rare and over and over surpass even the best local restaurants in execution that I could take on the challenge. I did, and it turned out fantastic.

The pan was searing hot, and I scored the duck breast in a diamond pattern, salted & lightly peppered it and threw it skin down. There it sat, sizzling, until the sides had curled up a bit, and the fat had turned a beautiful caramel color. Then, I tossed in some persimmon slices (from the short, squatty variety), made sure they had a whole facing touching the pan, turned the breasts over and put the pan in a 375 degree oven for 4-6 minutes. It came out perfectly rare and incredibly juicy. How restaurants manage to screw this up over and over is beyond me.

So looking ahead, I’ve decided to pseudo-host Thanksgiving. As my converted Victorian duplex is too small for a crowd, we’re hosting at E’s house, he’s doing the turkey (”How do I cook the turkey?” / “It’s meat, you’re the man, you figure it out,” was my reply haha) and I’m doing most of the other items and the rest are being supplied by guests who want to pitch in. So this year, similarly to last year, I’m making:

Persimmon & Sage Sausage stuffing (except this year, I’ll fashion up my own sage sausage)

Whipped yams with fresh roasted chestnuts & tarragon (or maybe fried sage leaves on top instead, what do you think?)

Kathleen & Caroline’s Hard-hittin’ Stonewall Bourbon drink (2 ladels hot spiced apple sider, 1 ladel maker’s mark)

Fresh cranberry-orange compote

Vanilla-bourbon whipped cream (for the desserts people will inevitably bring)

I’ll post recipes the day before Thanksgiving when I’m prepping all of the dishes. Stay tuned!