I’m confident in my cooking abilities, but most of the time, I get exhausted by the idea of coming home and cooking even more. Typically, I won’t be the food loving type that grabs a cookbook or recipe over a three-day weekend and experiments. However, I have multiple friends that will spend their precious time away from work toiling with very complicated, time consuming recipes that cost a small fortune. This may be their creative outlet and escape, but I have my own. My comparison to their recipe weekend is my gardening adventures. I’m absolutely dreadful at this expensive hobby. I love it, it soothes me, but I’m awful and I don’t care. Too much sun, not enough sun, is it a perennial or annual? Who knows. Frankly, I end up trusting my garden associate at the local hardware store that they are only putting out things I won’t screw-up or kill. My point here is that it’s valuable and rewarding to work small creative projects from start to finish, whether it be gardening or cooking. The quiet, unaided concentration time can be especially rewarding when you see the completed work. If your project happens to be burning and deflating three dozen egg whites for your DIY soufflé, wonderful! But maybe, you’re like me and find the reward in tending a garden that yields no fruit and planting flowers in overly acidic soil so they are permanently stunted from growth or dead.

To relieve the financial burden of the long weekend and save all the plants and egg whites, I’m going to share something I know. Here’s an easy project that I know will yield a “fruit” of passion. I’m doing a little freezer frenzy clean-out. Since winter decided to officially end, I thought, “lets clean out the freezer and make some Duck prosciutto”. It’s so simple, and with the minimal steps and ingredients you can tackle a very stimulating project that won’t break the bank.

Don’t fret you don’t need to purchase a truck full of whole duck. Use Maple Leaf Farms duck breasts (www.mapleleaffarms.com). Once the duck is cured, slice it thin and serve with cold plates, salads, garnish a dish or even try these delicious options: tart fruit preserves, seasonal chutney, or pickled garden veggies (www.chefsshelf.com)

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless Maple Leaf Farms Duck breasts with skin
• 1 cup kosher salt
• 1.25 cup dark brown sugar
• 5 juniper berries, cracked or 1 Tbsp. fresh chopped Rosemary
• 3 bay leaves, crumbled
• 2 teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper or for a floral finish add pink peppercorns
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Preparation:

Using a small knife, trim all but a 1/8″ layer of fat from each duck breast, Mix remaining ingredients in a medium bowl

Arrange 2 sheets of plastic wrap side by side on a work surface. Spread 1 cup salt mixture in center of each sheet, spreading mixture to match the size of the duck breasts. Top each with 1 duck breast, fat side down. Spread remaining salt mixture over meat, dividing equally. Bring plastic wrap up and over each duck breast, wrapping tightly. Place on a small rimmed baking sheet, fat side down, and refrigerate for 7 days to cure.

When the cure is set, un-wrap duck breasts and scrape off salt mixture (do not rinse). Using a long, sharp knife, thinly slice meat.

Makes 8–10 servings