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cooking ducks

4K views 33 replies 24 participants last post by  seabo 
#1 ·
what is your favorite ways to cook ducks? we have always chicken fried ours with cream gravy and rice
 
#2 ·
Bacon wrap the breast and cooked on the grill, Fajitas, and you can not go wrong with a big pot of duck gumbo that your 93 years young grandmother cooked. My family and I are from La. so you had better have a lot of towels to wipe the sweat from your forehead cause its spicy.
 
#13 ·
I love eating duck and all of the above are great suggestions, here is one that hasn't been mentioned: Blackened Duck.

Capt. Jeff Steckler turned me on to this last year and it has been a favorite around my house ever since, my girlfriend used to not eat any game and now blackened duck is one of her favorite dishes.


Soak the duck breasts in water in the fridge for a day or two, changing the water several times. This step is to draw out some of the blood.

Cube the breasts into 1" pieces and put them in a bowl of melted butter

Dredge them in blackening seasoning, I like the kind from Williams-Sonoma but it doesn't really matter

Get your favorite cast iron skillet super hot (I like to put mine directly on the coals in my Weber) and roll the duck nuggets around in there for no more then 2-3 minutes. You don't want to overcook them or they will get dry and gross.

Enjoy!
 
#14 ·
As a variation of the blackened duck recipe above, leave the breast halves whole, into melted butter, covered in seasoning, and blacken in a very hot cast iron skillet. You're talking a minute on each side, basically till it's seared. You want it rare to medium rare at most. Slice it very thin with a sharp knife. Toast some french bread, then melt provolone cheese on top. Pile on the sliced duck breast, then add sauteed onions (and bell peppers and mushrooms if you like that. Eat it as a giant sandwich, or an open faced sandwich, whichever suits you. If you do it right you'll have juices running down your arms and you'll eat till it hurts.
 
#21 ·
As a variation of the blackened duck recipe above, leave the breast halves whole, into melted butter, covered in seasoning, and blacken in a very hot cast iron skillet. You're talking a minute on each side, basically till it's seared. You want it rare to medium rare at most. Slice it very thin with a sharp knife. Toast some french bread, then melt provolone cheese on top. Pile on the sliced duck breast, then add sauteed onions (and bell peppers and mushrooms if you like that. Eat it as a giant sandwich, or an open faced sandwich, whichever suits you. If you do it right you'll have juices running down your arms and you'll eat till it hurts.
capn, you just OutWhataburgered my blackened duck recipe, that sounds unbelievable! Kind of a blackened duck philly cheesesteak situation, I love it!
 
#15 ·
We like to slow cook in a crock pot all day with a can of cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup. The meat should just fall apart when touched with a fork. Mix with some dirty rice or use the gravy and some bisquick to make some dumplings.

Is it lunch time yet?
 
#24 ·
We like to slow cook in a crock pot all day with a can of cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup. The meat should just fall apart when touched with a fork. Mix with some dirty rice or use the gravy and some bisquick to make some dumplings.

Is it lunch time yet?
Deer steak is good like that too. An easy meal you can make in the morning or night before and let it cook all day.
 
#17 ·
Allright, now I'm hungry....thanks....it's still another couple hours 'till lunch!:headknock

I'd bet that most of the people that say that they don't like duck, would really like it, if they tried it after it'd been cooked properly. But, it's hard to change someone's opinion of a food once they eaten some that was poorly prepared, no matter what it was...

For instance, I know lots of people that say they don't like fish. I've convinced more than one that they were wrong. It's all about how a dish is prepared.
 
#18 ·
All the recipes are good. I could add a few more, but won't take up the bandwidth. If you observe these rules you will probably enjoy eating duck. If you don't you probably won't.

Take good care of the ducks in the field. If you pile them all in a pile on a warm day, the ones on the bottom will spoil. I rarely "draw" (pull the guts out) of them in the field nowadays, but it helps. Especially if the bird has been gut shot.

Type of duck matters. I skin most of the ducks we kill down here. If you're going to freeze them, skin them. The fat under the skin has a bad (rancid) taste on most ducks and is worse after it's frozen. I don't know why. FRESH wood ducks, teal, pintails, tree ducks, canvasbacks are good candidates for plucking. So are corn fed mallards which have just arrived from up north. Most of the rest (and any you intend to freeze) need to be skinned.

If a duck is not on the list above, soak the skinned breast filets and pour off the bloody water. Squeeze them and get more blood out. Cut out any congealed blood, feathers, etc.

Small diving ducks (jacks) wigeon, and spoonbills are usually best in gumbo or dirty rice. They have a stronger taste that compliments these dishes. Not so good by themselves.

Any duck you skin or breast out needs to be cooked quickly and served no more done that medium rare, warm pink middle. If you overcook it (well done) it will taste like liver and probably be dry and tough.

only two ways to cook most game birds (including duck) - very hot for a short time, or very wet for a long time.
 
#19 ·
I'm with levelwind. I just fillet the breast and soak in water or milk if suspect then marinate in Italian dressing or herbs, olive oil and worstecheshire (sp?) sauce mix.
You can grill as is or bacon wrap or put blackening seasoning on them if you want. Then about 3-5 minutes max over hot mesquite.

The less desirable ducks make good dirty rice.

Geese or if you have alot of ducks especially blue bills just fillet and make jerky with any spice cure you would use for venison plus soy and worstechesire. Smoke them alittle and they are pretty tasty. They work great for getting a reluctant Lab back in the kennel, toss one in and stand back.
 
#20 ·
If you want to think you are eating steak, try this.

pick the feathers from the entire breast, breast the duck from the outside by the wing leaving the skin intact. Come over the breast bone but under the skin and breast the other side. Basically, you wind up with two pieces of meat attached by one piece of skin. Put some Montreal steak seasoning on the breast and some onions on there. Fold it over where the skin is on the outside, stick a toothpick through it and put it on the grill. Cook medium rare. Very good.
 
#27 ·
pick the feathers from the entire breast, breast the duck from the outside by the wing leaving the skin intact. Come over the breast bone but under the skin and breast the other side. Basically, you wind up with two pieces of meat attached by one piece of skin. Put some Montreal steak seasoning on the breast and some onions on there. Fold it over where the skin is on the outside, stick a toothpick through it and put it on the grill. Cook medium rare. Very good.
Never done it quite like that. I will have to try that one.

Some subtle differences of opinion with others: I never soak my ducks. I find it makes minimal to almost no difference. I do prefer to let them age in the fridge for a couple of days if possible, particularly plucked ducks. As with any meat, aging makes it a lot more tender. But often times I clean a duck and throw it on the grill. You absolutely must get any congealed blood out though.

And I have not had a problem with rancid duck fat under the skin. I pluck a large percentage of my ducks, and freeze most. As long as you keep the bird cool, no problem, and no problems with freezing. But if you let that bird sit out in the sun most of the day, or don't get the guts out on a gut shot bird, that fat will go bad and you should breast the bird. Also, birds with multiple pellets through the breast are generally not good pluckers because of the congealed blood that is likely trapped in the meat. You need to breast it and get that stuff out.

My personal favorites are whistling ducks, mottled ducks, wood ducks, teal, plump gadwalls, and mallards in that order and I will pluck nearly everyone I can. I also love canvasbacks and redheads, but I don't care for them plucked. Scaup, lean gadwalls, wigeon, pinnies, and spoons get breasted unless they are gumbo or dumpling bound. Jacks, buffies, and goldeneye get a free pass through my blind.
 
#22 ·
Best piece of meat I ever ate was duck breast at the eiffel tower restaurant in Vegas.
anyway, another thing is to get a breast half or two, skinless, and throw them on the grill till they are dry as a bone, dont burn them, just cook them super overdone. then put in some sort food processor and grind them fine. then mix with philly cream cheese and some spices- like a lipton soup packet, some italian kinda spices or whatever, and maybe a little liquid smoke. Then dip crackers in there as an hors' dovour (or however you spell that) and see if you don't just love that.
 
#23 ·
never chick fried a duck but have geese ,brest um cut and kleeve the hell out of it season to taste with some slap your mama and black pepper ,than flour,buttermilk ,flour drop it in the grease, after you done make some 90 weight onion gravy and some homemade mashed potatoes and wash it down with a big glass of cold milk
 
#25 ·
Duck, for the most part, is pretty nasty. However, I can attest to the blackened duck being good to eat.

Below is a VERY detailed recipe my uncle gave me and it is excellent.

Fillet of Duck Breast Roll-ups:

Carefully remove the breasts of wild ducks with a sharp filleting knife, and
also remove the skin. Discard skin and remainder of duck carcasses, or boil
to make duck stock for soup, gumbo, or other purposes.

If breasts are from large ducks, slice them horizontally to produce two
fillets from each side of the breast. For breast from a teal, skip this
step.

Place the duck breast fillets between two sheets of wax paper. Using a
mashing tool or rolling pin, mash the fillets until they are about the
thickness of three quarters stacked on top of one another.

Place a slice of jalapeno pepper and/or a slice of sun-dried tomato on top
of each fillet, plus a small amount of crushed or sliced fresh garlic if
desired. Roll up the fillet so that the filling items are inside. Then
take one half of a slice of bacon (preferably thin sliced) and wrap it
around the rolled up fillet in the opposite direction of the roll. (In
other words, so that the bacon covers the ends and the filling items will
not fall out.) Secure with one or two toothpicks.

Lay the duck breast roll-ups in a glass baking dish and cover them with a
good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar based salad dressing. Newman's
Own is a good one, as is Central Market's house brand, but be sure to pick
the ones made from olive oil. My definition of a good quality vinaigrette
for marinating is if you look at the label and the first ingredient listed
is olive oil, that's a good vinaigrette. If the first ingredient listed is
"vegetable oil, including canola...etc.", and olive oil is listed later,
that's tolerable but not quite as good. If the first ingredient is water,
use something else. If you are really creative, use some extra virgin olive
oil, balsamic vinegar, and your own favorite array of spices to make your
own marinade.

Grind some black pepper over the top of the marinating breast roll-ups,
cover the dish with cellophane wrap or foil, and place in the refrigerator
overnight.

These should be cooked right before they are served. They are great grilled
over hot coals or on a gas grill, but they are also very good cooked under
the broiler in your oven. In the latter case, place them on top of a
broiling pan so that the drippings can fall into the pan, as there will be a
fair amount of drippings produced. After all, duck meat is already fairly
fat, and you have added olive oil and bacon! (This is not a diet food.) Turn
once or twice during cooking. As always when cooking something wrapped in
bacon, be very careful about flare-ups.

Cook until the bacon is done and the roll-ups are very hot inside, but don't
overcook them until they dry out.

Serve as an hors d'oeuvre or as a main course (four roll-ups per person if a
main course.) Those concerned about fat, cholesterol, etc. can discard the
bacon, but that takes more will power than I have ever had.

If serving as hors d'oeuvres, you can slice each piece across the grain of
the roll-up several times to produce smaller pieces, and put out a supply of
toothpicks to pick them up with.

As an entrée, goes great with wild rice, crusty French bread, a dinner
salad, and a glass of Becker's Caret! Bon appétit.
 
#30 ·
I think there's a definite difference in tastes between folks, those were just my preferences.

What I find with mottled ducks is that they are almost always plump birds with plenty of fat to insure that they come out nice and juicy. That is what I look for in a plucker! Same reason I love a plump gadwall that's been here a while and gained some fat. Whistling ducks are flat out awesome eating. Very sweet flesh that is different than any other bird. And like you, I love canvasbacks, but they are real hard to pluck and the ones I've shot (it is not a common bird for me, mind you) have not had much fat. They tended to be dry, but are nice and tender for my breast only recipes.

And I've not had many rice field pintails. All of mine are bay ducks for the most part, and I can't tell the difference between them and wigeon... which are both good IMO. I also think the mottleds in the south closer to RP pale in comparison to the upper coast birds. Perhaps the higher salinity levels are a difference as well?
 
#32 ·
mmmm, corn fed mallard is my favorite.

soak breasts in salt water for a day to remove blood. season with steak seasoning. saute breasts in a pan with butter until medium rare. even the girlfriend likes it and we all know how picky women can be.

the key is not overcooking the meat. fastest way to ruin wild game (IMO) is to overcook it.
 
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