A Pinot of Interest

At a recent wine tasting of Pinot Noirs from around the world, I sampled one that I found very interesting. It was a light rusty red color and had a nose of warm ripe cherries. It had flavors of black raspberry, black cherry, and thyme with acidity sidling in mid-finish to keep things fresh. It was smooth and drinkable, it was San Pietro Pinot Nero, from Alto Adige in Italy.
Alto Adige is perhaps the least Italian of regions. It's laid out along the country's northeastern border with Austria. It's continental climate, cold snowy winters and hot sunny summers, attributes to the the fact that this wine is most comparable to the Pinots from Burgundy.
As usual, as I was tasting this wine, I thought to myself what I might want to eat with it. It didn't take me long to decide on duck. And considering that the wine comes from a region that possesses both German and Austrian influences, and because I haven't made it in awhile, I decided on an herb spaetzle to accompany.
Duck is easy. Score it's fatty delicious skin and cook over medium heat to coax that tasty duck fat out without scorching it. Spaetzle is not exactly difficult, but it can be kinda tricky. I've tried several methods of dropping the gooey batter into boiling water and all of them are messy and a massive arm workout, as you have to stand over the hot stove making sure that you don't get any huge blobs of dough. The method I used this last time seemed to be the best for me so that is what I will recommend.

Pan Seared Duck Breast over Herbed Spaetzle
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 duck breast, skin on
salt & pepper
1 Tbl. olive oil
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup fresh chopped herbs, (parsley, chive, oregano, dill, etc)


Directions:
1. Put the duck breast on a cutting board skin side up and score all over in a crosshatch pattern, so the fat will render and the skin will crisp. Season all over with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a stainless steel pan over medium heat. Add duck, skin side down, and cook slowly for about 12 to 15 minutes until the fat is rendered and the skin is browned and crispy. Turn the duck and cook 1 to 2 more minutes for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board to rest.

2. Bring a large pot of well salted water to a boil over medium heat. In a small bowl whisk together the eggs and milk until they are a homogeneous mixture. In a large bowl, add flour and make a hole in the flour. Add a pinch of salt and using a fork, gradually combine the milk/egg mixture with the flour. Mix until they are just combined. Stir in 1/4 cup of the herbs.

3. Dampen a plastic cutting board and place dough mixture on it. Cut off strips of dough into water and cook for 3 minutes. Drain spaetzle, rinse under cold water, and set aside. Use the skillet with the rendered duck fat to saute spaetzle until lightly brown.

4. To serve, cut the duck breast crosswise, on an angle, into slices and lay on top of spaetzle.