Cherry Port Sauce Recipes

DUCK BREASTS WITH CITRUS PORT CHERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Score the skin of the duck breast with a knife in 2 directions, crossing over each other (makes a crosshatch). Season both sides of each duck breast with salt and pepper.
• In a large nonstick skillet, over medium-high heat, place the duck breasts skin side down. Sear the breasts until the skin is golden brown about 10 minutes, flip and sear the other side for just 3 minutes. Place the seared duck breasts in a baking dish skin side up, and put them in oven. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove the duck breasts from the oven and allow them to rest for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pour off most excess fat from skillet, and place it back on the stovetop over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute until translucent. Pour in the port wine and orange juice, and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the orange zest and chopped cherries and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes to reduce the mixture and thicken, mashing the cherries with the back of a wooden spoon to extract flavor as they cook.
• Slice the breasts into 1/4-inch slices on a diagonal. Pour the cherry port sauce over the top and enjoy!
• Cook's Note: excess duck fat can be refrigerated and is great for cooking potatoes or eggs.

PORK WELLINGTON WITH CHERRY PORT SAUCE

Steps:

• For the pork wellington: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large skillet, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper and cook until the onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the thyme leaves.
• Break up the cornbread in a bowl, add the onion-thyme mixture and stir to combine. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork with salt and pepper. Sear the pork, turning as needed, until golden brown all around, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool completely. Reserve the skillet to make the sauce.
• Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
• On a cutting board, lay out the ham slices, overlapping them to create a rectangle about 12 inches long. Rub the tenderloin completely with the mustard and place over the ham slices. Wrap the ham over the tenderloin to seal in the mustard.
• Lay out the puff pastry sheet on a floured surface and roll out to a rectangle with the long sides 2 inches longer than the pork tenderloin. Spread the cornbread mixture around the pastry sheet, leaving about a 1-inch border all the way around. Place the wrapped tenderloin along one of the long sides of the pastry. Roll the tenderloin up in the pastry, making sure it's completely wrapped. Fold in the pastry ends, brush with the beaten egg and tuck in. Place the wrapped pork on the prepared baking sheet with the seam on the bottom and brush liberally with the beaten egg.
• Bake until the crust is golden brown and the tenderloin registers an internal temperature of 140 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, 25 to 35 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.
• For the cherry port sauce: In the same skillet you seared the pork, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat, add the shallot and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the cherries, broth, port and honey. Increase the heat to high and simmer, stirring often, until the sauce is reduced to a glaze, about 10 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Season with salt and pepper.

DUCK WITH PORT-CHERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Whisk soy sauce and Sherry in medium bowl to blend. Using sharp knife, make diagonal cuts at 1/2-inch intervals in duck skin (not through meat). Place duck, skin side up, in glass baking dish. Pour marinade over. Cover duck with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours.
• Bring cherries, chicken stock, beef stock, Port and thyme sprig to boil in heavy medium saucepan over high heat. Simmer until mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat heavy large skillet over medium heat. Remove duck from marinade. Add duck breasts, skin side down, to skillet. Cook until skin is crispy, about 10 minutes. Turn duck over and continue cooking to desired doneness, about 5 minutes for medium. Transfer duck to work surface.
• Add cornstarch mixture to Port-cherry sauce. Bring to simmer, whisking constantly. Add butter 1 piece at a time, whisking until butter is melted before adding next piece. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
• Slice duck breasts thinly on diagonal and fan out on plates. Spoon Port-cherry sauce over duck and serve.

CHERRY-PORT GLAZE (COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Steps:

• Simmer the port in a small saucepan over medium heat until it is reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes.
• Add the brown sugar, cherry preserves, and ground pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is thick, syrupy and reduced to 1 cup, 5 to 10 minutes.
• To use as glaze, bake your ham until it reached an internal temperature of 100 degrees.
• Remove ham from oven and increase oven temperature to 350 degrees.
• Cut open the oven bag (if using the CI method) and roll back the sides to expose the ham.
• Brush ham with about one-third of the glaze (a silicone brush is highly recommended).
• Return to the oven until the glaze becomes sticky, about 10 minutes.
• Remove ham from the oven, transfer to a cutting board, and brush te entire ham with another third of the glaze. (If the glaze has thickened, just reheat it briefly).
• Let the ham rest, loosely covered with foil, for 15 minutes.
• Heat the remaining third of the glaze with 4 to 6 tablespoons of the ham juices, until it forms a thick but fluid sauce. Pass the sauce with the ham.
• Note: I think this recipe makes enough for probably six people, at best, but did not really measure it out after adding the juices. Also, I found the ham juices very salty, and would probably use just two or three spoons of ham drippings, and low-sodium broth or water for the rest.

MASCARPONE SEMIFREDDO WITH CHERRY-PORT SAUCE

Steps:

• Make the cherry-port sauce: Bring port and granulated sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Boil until reduced by one third, about 5 minutes. Stir in cherries. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, until plump, about 10 minutes. Refrigerate until thick, about 40 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the semifreddo: Whisk mascarpone, cream, confectioners' sugar, and a pinch of salt until medium-stiff peaks form. Fold in chocolate. Spread mixture into a 5-by-9-inch loaf pan; cover with plastic wrap. Freeze until edges beginto harden and semifreddo is very cold, at least 50 minutes. Scoop into 4 serving dishes. Spoon cherry-port sauce over tops. Serve with chocolate wafer cookies.