Club Sandwich with Duck Breast, Cambozola, Applewood Smoked Bacon and Roasted Garlic

This recipe takes an ordinary sandwich and makes it worthy of an excellent wine pairing! It comes from Chad Hendrickson, Executive Chef for The Hess Collection. A special thank you to The Hess Collection for sponsoring this post. 

Sandwiches are casual. When we don’t want to have a fancy meal or invest too much time in the kitchen, we go for a sandwich. 

They are convenient and familiar, but many lean a little towards boring and monotonous. That is, until you start considering whether the lowly sandwich could possibly pair with wine. Not just any wine, but a syrah that boasts black and blue fruits with a subtle touch of spiced vanilla and cedar. Before you know it, you have a duck breast sandwich on your hands that also happens to be layered with bacon and Cambozola cheese. 

It brings a whole new definition to the thought of just going for a sandwich, doesn’t it?

The Hess Collection recently asked me to make and share a recipe created by their Executive Chef, Chad Hendrickson. A recipe that was perfectly paired with The Hess Collection Small Block Series 2012 Napa Valley Syrah. With notes of cloves, anise and vanilla, this wine could not be a better pick for the holiday season, nor a better option to pair with duck. 

This wasn’t my first encounter with Hess, or with the delicious creations by Chef Hendrickson. A couple years back, I had the pleasure of attending a nutrition and research event for media by the Peanut Institute. Our first meal of the event was hosted at Hess where we were able to do a tasting, view the art gallery and enjoy a peanut-inspired meal paired with Hess wines. Through that experience, and now some work with them through a client, Hess is teaching me a lot about the wines and appellations of Napa Valley. 

And now this recipe is teaching me a bit about wine pairings. Including that a sandwich can be anything but casual. 

Yes, you will need to cook some duck breast, but don’t be intimidated by that if you are new to it. It’s not unlike chicken and we are moving into the time of year where duck is easier to find at the market.

You’ll also need some roasted garlic cloves for the mayo. To make these, I just cut the top third off a head of garlic, set it on a large piece of foil, drizzle it with olive oil and then wrap the foil around it. Place in a 400 degree F oven for about 45 minutes. I usually do this while I’m baking other things. When cooled, you can squeeze the head of garlic from the bottom and roasted cloves will pop right out. 

Once all the ingredients are prepped, clubs couldn’t be easier to put together. Just stack as the recipe instructs and cut each sandwich into halves or quarter triangles to serve. With the rich duck and Cambozola cheese paired with the spiced, fruit-forward wine, this club sandwich is a meal that has fall written all over it. 

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by The Hess Collection. Thoughts are my own, and those thoughts are that this is an outstanding sandwich paired beautifully with an outstanding Syrah. 

Thanks for reading! All images and content are the property of Fake Food Free unless otherwise stated. Please do not republish full recipes and images without written permission. What is okay? Feel free to Pin images, share links to my posts or share the photo in a round up post with the title of this recipe and a link back to the post. Confused about copyright and food blogs? Here is some helpful information on Recipe Attribution. If you want to use a photo or full recipe, just ask. I’m sure we can work something out.