Oh boy!  Another great rub!

I’ve been wanting to try Hunter’s Recipe Duck Rub since it arrived a couple of weeks ago.  I’ve had a “meh” relationship with duck for years.  I probably had my fill of it when I was cooking at Hugo’s Rotisserie at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe circa 1976.  We went through a lot of duck back in those days.  A lot of duck.  We did a lot of great sauces, too.  The lingonberry was my favorite.

Alas, Hugo’s is no longer there – in fact, the entire building has been completely renovated – or replaced.  The lakeside restaurant is now The Lone Eagle Grill. The casino restaurant I next cooked for and eventually managed – Alpine Jack’s – is gone, as well.  It’s now The Sierra Cafe.  Last time I was there I barely recognized it.

And yes, I have a name tag from a job I had some 34 years ago – readily available.  Notice the old Hyatt logo…  Pack-rat?!?  MOI?!?

But I digress…

Back in the present, I had a couple of duck breasts in the freezer I had picked up just for grins and giggles because I’m always ready to try something yet, again.

I’m quite happy I had them.

I pulled the fat from the duck breasts and rendered it separately.  I’m not a huge fan of hunks of fat attached to what I’m eating.  I then followed the instructions on the spice rub – I drizzled the breasts with olive oil and then liberally coated them with the rub.  I let them set for about 2 hours before I grilled them.

Outstanding Flavor!

I was impressed.  Again.  Chef Jeremy says the Duck Rub is his favorite – and I can see why.  It is a great blend of kinda sweet and savory herbs and spices that just work together.  They played off the slight gaminess of the duck perfectly.

I have to admit that pulling all of the fat off the breasts probably wasn’t the smartest move from a culinary standpoint.  The breast was a bit drier than I would have preferred, but it was a trade-off, because I wanted to really taste the rub and if I had left the fat on, I would have cut it all off before eating it – and lost the spice rub.

A little dryness was worth the burst of flavor from the rub.

Chef Jeremy stated that he really works to create flavors that compliment and work well with the individual meats.  And it was obvious with the Duck Rub because the flavors and the duck worked perfectly together.

So not only did I get a great dinner, I got a stroll down Memory Lane.

Tahoe in the mid-to-late ’70s was a great place to live.  And it’s nothing short of a miracle that I survived it!