If you haven’t read A Gentleman in Moscow, I encourage you to pick it up. It’s funny and interesting and full of good meals. The Count is sentenced by the Bolsheviks- not to death, like many of his contemporaries- but through good luck and knowing the right people, to live out the rest of his life under house arrest. He is sent to a lavish hotel in Moscow with few belongings besides his clothes and books. He fills his days with visits to the staff, cooking in the kitchen, securing better furnishings, and devising various activities to keep himself occupied day after day after day, for years. He is particular about his meals, and this one, Duck with Cherries, is a classic French dish. I have cobbled together a few different recipes, and created one that had even my three young kids asking for seconds- and thirds- of their first taste of duck. I’m pretty sure it was the cherry sauce that did it for them. I think this would work very well also with both dark and light meat chicken.

Vladimir removed the dome and placed the platter at the center of the table. As he left the room, the colonel picked up a carving knife and fork.

‘Let’s see. What do we have here? Ah, roasted duck. I’ve been told that Boyarsky’s is unparalleled.’

‘You are not misinformed. Make sure you take a few cherries and some of the skin.’

The colonel doled out a portion for himself, including cherries and skin, and then served the Count.

‘Absolutely delicious,’ he said, when he had taken his first bite.'

First you’ll want to wash, pit and halve about a cup of cherries, as this can take a few minutes. The cherries don’t have to be perfect. Some halves looked very nice and some fruit I had to just cut off the pit in pieces. I used regular sweet cherries from the produce department. Some recipes were calling for fancier products, but I did see that regular cherries were called for in some places, so I took the path of least resistance.

Make the sauce:

1/4 cup raw sugar, or what I did- half white sugar and half brown
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 generous cup chicken broth; I found I needed to add a little more than the cup called for, to even out the flavor of the vinegar
pepper to taste

Simmer the vinegar and sugar together until you make a syrup. Add broth and simmer until sauce coats a spoon, add pepper to taste and adjust. This is where I found I needed more chicken broth. I added about a half cup and simmered a little more. You should have about 1 cup of sauce. Set sauce aside.

To cook the cherries you will need:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons white sugar
If desired, vermouth or other liquer, such as kirsch or cognac

Put the cherries in a sauce pan with about 2 tablespoons butter and two tablespoons granulated sugar. Simmer until the cherries are heated and begin to give up their juice. The recipes I saw called for kirsch or cognac, but having neither, I used a splash of vermouth and it was delicious. Cook for one minute more after the liquer has been added. Add the sauce to the cherries and keep warm.

For the meat:

I asked the butcher at our local market Haddon Culinary, to order some duck breasts, and they did so obligingly and also gave me a few pointers on how to best cook them. Even though traditionally this dish calls for a whole duck to be roasted, I don’t think that’s necessary here. I also bought a few pieces of precooked legs and thighs from a grocer. I warmed them in the oven to crisp the skin and served along with the breasts. You’ll notice them in the picture of the finished recipe.

The duck breasts are quite fatty, so I trimmed some of the excess fat around the edges, and then scored the skin in order to let the rest of the fat render out and let the skin crisp nicely. I seasoned well with salt and pepper. Then I browned them in dry pan, skin side down, for about seven minutes, then turned them over to cook seven minutes more or until done. The USDA recommends 170 degrees for duck; many chefs will tell you this is too high. I cut a small slice inside one breast to see if it was cooked to my liking, keeping in mind the fact that it will continue to cook off the stove as it rests.

This splattered a lot. A lid will help but don’t put it on tight; you don’t want it to steam. A piece of foil placed lightly on top lightly will do also.

When the breasts are done, set them aside, loosely covered and preferably on a warmed plate, to rest. You don’t want to slice them now or all the meat’s juice will run out and they’ll be dry. When you’re ready, slice the breasts thinly, and then pour the warm sauce on top. Arrange the cherries to look pretty!

I served this with orzo with browned butter. Green beans and a salad, and some good bread if you have hungry eaters. The Count suggests “a good Georgian red.” We all had ice water and beer for the grownups and it seemed fine to us!

Here you can see the scoring in the skin. I did end up flipping this over once more to get the skin more crackly. You’ll want a lid on this to catch splatters, but loosely so as not to steam. You can also place a piece of foil lightly on top.

The cherries are cooked in butter and sugar, and then you’ll add your sauce to them when they are juicy.

Finished! The Count’s Duck with Cherries. Good enough for three kids to ask for more.