Serving the duck with a purée of sweet potatoes, a warmly spiced cranberry sauce, and a trio of bitter greens highlights the splendors of autumn’s bounty. You’ll have more sauce than you need for this recipe. It will keep for several months in the refrigerator as a sauce for poultry, including turkey, for a holiday meal. This main dish is a simplified version of a classic served at Miraval Berkshires’ 1894 Restaurant.

INGREDIENTS

For the Duck 

• 6 (4-ounce) duck breasts, trimmed of all fat and sinew
• 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar

Cranberry Agrodolce

• 8 ounces fresh cranberries, picked over
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup sherry vinegar
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cinnamon stick

Sweet Potato Purée

• 1 pound Garnet or Jewel sweet potatoes, scrubbed
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 to 2 tablespoons real maple syrup
• Fine sea salt

• 2 tablespoons expeller pressed grapeseed oil
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon grass-fed unsalted butter
• 4 cups mixed radicchio, chicories, and frisée
  (radicchio and chicories sliced)
• Fine sea salt

DIRECTIONS

To dry-brine the duck, prick the duck skin all over with the tip of a paring knife or a sharp metal skewer without piercing the meat. Set aside on a plate.

Prepare a small, rimmed sheet pan with a wire rack set inside. In a small bowl, stir together the salt, celery salt, pepper, nutmeg, ginger, and garam masala. In a medium bowl, mix together the water, honey, and vinegar, making sure the honey is dissolved. Dip each duck breast in the honey mixture and place on the wire rack, skin-side up. Lightly season the skin side of each duck breast with the salt mixture. Place in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 4 to 6 hours. (At this point, the duck breasts can be rinsed, patted dry with paper towels, and covered on a plate, ready for searing. Do this entire step one day in advance, if possible.)

Meanwhile, make the cranberry sauce. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, combine the cranberries, red wine vinegar, honey, sherry vinegar, cloves, bay leaf, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is reduced to a light syrup consistency, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cloves, bay leaf, and cinnamon stick. Purée in a high-speed blender. Set aside until ready to serve. The sauce can be made up to 5 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate. Heat before serving.

To roast the sweet potatoes, heat the oven to 350ºF. Prick the skin of each sweet potato with a fork. Place each potato on a sheet of aluminum foil along with a sprig of thyme and wrap it closed. Place in the oven and roast until very soft when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour. Unwrap and set aside until cool enough to handle. Discard the thyme. Scoop the flesh of the sweet potatoes into the workbowl of a food processor. Purée until smooth, adding olive oil as needed. Add maple syrup to taste and season with salt. Keep warm until ready to serve. (The sweet potato purée can be made up to 2 days in advance. Cover and refrigerate. Heat before serving.)

When ready to cook the entrée, heat the oven to 425ºF. Add the duck breasts, skin-side down, to a large, cold ovenproof skillet. Place the pan over medium heat. The duck fat from the breasts will begin to render. Continue to cook the duck breasts, without disturbing them, until the skin is browned and the skin easily releases from the pan, about 5 minutes. Using tongs, flip the breasts over and sear for 2 minutes longer. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast until nearly medium-rare, about 3 minutes. Transfer the breasts to a warmed platter and let rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing.

Place the skillet over medium-high heat, add the shallots and garlic. Sauté 1 minute, scraping up the brown bits clinging to the bottom of the pan. Add the wine and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and swirl in the butter. While the wine is reducing, heat a stovetop grill pan over medium high heat, and grill the radicchio, chicories or frisée until crisp-tender and slightly charred. Do this in batches, if needed.

To serve, spoon 1/2 cup of sweet potato purée on the base of 4 warmed dinner plates. Arrange grilled radicchio and chicories over top. Slice each duck breast, crosswise, into 3 pieces. Arrange these slices over the greens on each plate. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the cranberry agrodolce around the plate and spoon the jus from the skillet over top the duck breasts. Serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings

CALORIES: 340; TOTAL FAT: 15 G; CARBOHYDRATE: 46 G; DIETARY FIBER: 3 G; PROTEIN: 7 G