duck and pinot noir!

a few of us were having drinks overlooking the yarra river about a week ago, and we had the fabulous idea of having a night dedicated to the classic combination of duck and pinot noir. the boys were to buy the roast duck and the wine, which left me the arduous task of coming up with a couple of sides to go with the roast duck.

after mulling over it for a few days, i came up with two side dishes. the first was a spinach and rocket salad with caramelized oranges and a miso sesame dressing. the slight bitterness and sweetness from the oranges worked wonders with the nuttiness of the rocket, and it broke the monotony of the dressing. in my opinion, the salad was a winner :) for 

carbohydrates, we had pan-fried polenta wedges topped with a five-spice honey soy sauce to complement the roast duck. this was pretty good as well, as the crispiness of the fried polenta really added texture to the entire dish.

roast duck with an orange miso salad and polenta wedges

e-hern with multiple bottles of pinot noir

e-hern serenading us

jo not-studying

in other news, a bunch of us went up to yarra valley last sunday. the weather was beautiful, and we got the chance to taste some really gorgeous wines. i promise that i will blog about it as soon as i manage to get the photos :)