Log In / Sign Up

Smoked Duck and Cherry Pressed Sandwich Recipe

Smoked Duck and Cherry Pressed Sandwich
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: | Makes: 1 sandwich

Cherries and duck are usually paired on menus at white-tablecloth restaurants, but here we layer them in a crusty baguette with peppery greens and sweet cheese for a more relaxed, portable version.

What to buy: Smoked duck can be found at the meat or deli counter of most gourmet markets and butchers. If you’re having a hard time finding it, your favorite smoked and/or cured meat would substitute beautifully.

Game plan: This is a somewhat messy sandwich to eat because the cherries tend to fall out. We like the bursts of flavor that come from halving the cherries, but you could chop them finely if you’d like to lower the mess factor.

This recipe was featured as part of our Most Delicious Sandwiches photo gallery.

INGREDIENTS
  • 1/3 cup Bing cherries, pitted and halved
  • 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/3 cup baby arugula leaves, rinsed, dried well, and torn into bite-size pieces
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 (6-inch) sweet French roll
  • 2 ounces smoked duck breast, thinly sliced
  • 1 ounce sweet blue cheese, such as Gorgonzola dolce (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Heat a grill pan or an outdoor grill to medium (about 350°F).
  2. Combine the cherries and vinegar in a small, nonreactive bowl and season well with salt and pepper. Toss to combine and set the mixture aside to macerate for at least 10 minutes. In a separate small bowl, toss the arugula leaves with the olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and set aside. Slice the roll in half horizontally and pull out the interior of the bottom half to create a pocket.
  3. When the cherries have macerated and the grill pan/grill is heated, prepare your sandwich. Fill the bottom half of the roll by layering the arugula, duck breast, and cheese, then top with the cherry mixture, including any juices in the bowl. Close the sandwich with the top piece of bread, press down until it’s flattened, and wrap it in aluminum foil.
  4. Place the sandwich in the heated pan or on the grill and weight it down with a heavy object (a filled teapot or a frying pan works well). Grill until the bread is toasted and the cheese is melted, turning over halfway through, about 10 minutes total. Let rest in the foil 3 to 4 minutes before slicing and eating.

Beverage pairing: Benton Lane Pinot Noir, Oregon. Duck and cherries could call for no other grape than Pinot Noir. The Pinot could come from almost anywhere, but the sweet cherries can find their counterpart especially in a new-world version. This wine from Oregon has bright fruit but also a dusty, leafy edge that will pick up the arugula nicely.

    Write a review | 21 Reviews
  • This sounds awesome

  • OMFrickin'G , You guys are the bomb again. I smoked a duck in my smoker just to put this thing together. All ingredients like you said, put the sandwich on the grill under a brick panini-style, Miles Davis Kinda Blue on the Stereo, glass of Oregon Pinot Noir like you said. This is the best thing I've put in my smacker since your Bahn Mi Recipe. You made my weekend. How do I stop myself from throwing together another one

  • I have never ever seen smoked duck at a butcher or deli. What drugs are you on?

  • Love the cherries on this sandwich!! Made this tonight and it was great!

  • Right on as ALL ingredients are my favors! For the cherry part, I've found this excellent Italian cherry-in-a-jar @ Bristol Farm: 'Cilegie in Sciroppo Di AMARENA' (solid pc of cherries soaked in this yummy cherry syrup which is deliciously in heaven!) w'd be great to use for this recipe! (and you don't even need to go thru the cooking process) This product is originally used for cheese dipping. (Yes! it'll changed the whole world of cheese tasting which I was inspired from St. Marcos restaurant in Venetian in L.V.)

  • yummy, i usually use whole cranberry sauce for sandwiches, i love the cherry idea, this will be my new sandwich condiment.

  • Very tempting to this pescaterian! It sounds remotely similar to the Cuban (American) sandwich, the Maria Elena---slices of roasted turkey breast, cream cheese and strawberry jam pressed between slices of cuban bread.

  • I made this into a pizza so I could slice it up to go with Cocktails - excellent!

  • I just made this but I couldn't find duck and I subbed with Smoked turkey and I used pomegranate infused vinegar...It was great! :)

  • there's no GF bread good enough to do justice to this sandwich, so i think i'll have to turn it into a salad. sounds fantastic!

  • Darn, I'm Jewish and the meat and milk thing some times gets in the way of great idea's. Like this sandwich for instance <sigh> another good recipe not to be had....

  • We made this tonight and found one problem. Because the sandwich is being pressed and is wrapped in foil, you can't really judge how it's doing and adjust the cooking time. As such, the outside of the sandwich was burned and completely inedible. I'd cook it for half the time in the recipe, and if it's not quite done put it back on the grill pan without the foil for a couple of minutes. On the other hand, the inside was delicious -- we ate it with a fork. I'd also start the cherries macerating at least 20 minutes ahead of assembly.

  • smoked duck and fresh goat cheese combined with a little reduced balsamic...mmm.

  • kimcheesoup, my wife and I have always enjoyed Manchego, a Spanish cheese, with duck in various ways. It seems to pick up the subtle game flavors very well. It might be a good option for a non-blue cheese.

  • i dont really like blue cheese - are there any other cheese options that may work well with this sandwich other than blue? thanks!

  • I made this on Sunday, and it was delicious. I did use more than 2 oz. of duck though -- that seemed a bit light.

  • Small portions of the filling on top of rounds of fresh pumpernickel for hors d'oeuvres. Or a "deconstructed" sandwich on a plate - smaller pieces of the baguette with the duck and other fillings served separately near it. Delicious combination of flavors, no matter how it's served. - Robin

  • This - makes me want to eat meat again (and I have not ever said this in a few years)

  • Oh my gosh! What a fantastic idea!!! My mouth is absolutely watering.

  • Sounds awesome..can't wait to try it!

  • love this will do this in the weekend

Share with your friendsX