Did you know that in this nation, the only way to obtain wild duck is by shooting it yourself? Here is a delicious wild duck recipe for you. You can enjoy a tasty wild duck when you are out to camp.
How To Cook Duck
Whether the duck is wild or domesticated, there are typically two ways to prepare it: remove the breast fillets and cook them separately; or remove the legs and confit them.
As an alternative, you could roast the entire bird slowly, until it is crispy, before shredding and wrapping it in pancakes, Chinese style. Because you want the breast meat to be medium-done, the legs cook more slowly than the breast meat.
How To Roast Wild Duck
Ingredients:
* One wild duck, plucked and dressed whole
* Salt
* Two celery sticks or carrots
Equipment:
* Oven (a toaster oven will work for teal)
* Meat thermometer
* Tongs
* Foil
Instructions:
Set oven temperature to 450 or 500 degrees.
After salting the duck’s skin, dry the bird with a paper towel.
In a cast iron pan over medium heat, brown the duck; duck fat is preferred, but oil will work. Turn it with tongs so that the entire surface browns. It will take a few minutes for this to turn that insanely delicious golden brown.
With the burner off, lift the duck with tongs and place it in the pan with two celery or carrot stalks underneath. Place the breast-side-up browned duck on top of them.
Put everything in the oven for at least 10 minutes, or more for a larger bird like a teal.
Start checking the bird by inserting a meat thermometer into the breast after 10 minutes (more for larger birds). Take it out of the oven when it reaches 135 degrees.
The bird should be placed on a cutting board and protected with an aluminum foil tent. Give it at least five minutes to rest. (This will increase the temperature to around 145, which will greatly please the food nazis.)
Serve whole to small birds like teal. Larger birds, like mallards and pintails, can be cut in half and will serve two if you use a cleaver or kitchen shears.
Serve with your preferred side dish or salad.
How Does Wild Ducks Taste
Due to their constant exercise, which also explains why their flesh is so red, wild ducks have a much richer flavor than domesticated ducks. The flavor tastes more like steak than chicken.
I tried two different recipes: one with rosemary in the cavity and a sherry cream sauce; the other with orange rind in the cavity and an orange juice reduction sauce. We all agreed that the rosemary recipe was excellent and that the orange recipe wasn’t something we should make again.
So, here is the recipe that we found to be the best; take note that there are no specific measurements; rather, this recipe should be considered more of a loose guideline.
How To Tenderise Wild Duck
On the other hand, salt by itself is a miracle worker. As soon as you see the bird (okay, after you’ve brought it home and had it plucked), liberally season it with fine sea salt. Then, leave it in the refrigerator on a plate, unwrapped, for up to 48 hours to let the salt do its magic.
It improves the flavor and tenderizes the meat, which, incidentally, it does to all types of meat. Gospel truth: as in gospel according to Samin.
There’s no need to carve wild mallard because it’s typically big enough to be shared by two people. After roasting and cooling, use poultry scissors to cut it in half lengthwise, and give each person a half and a leg (that had been previously severed).