Waterfowl Recipes – Part II

By Matt Porter, Education Committee

This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s July, 2022 Newsletter edition.

As part of an ongoing series, Education Committee member Matt Porter has found some neat (and tasty) ways to prep your game birds for the table.  Some may be your old standbys, but most will challenge you to try something just a little different. We hope you enjoy this month’s recipes!

If you have a recipe to share and would like us to publish here, we’ll happily keep the series going into the fall. Please send your submissions to Matt Porter at WWARecipeCorner@gmail.com.

SEARED DUCK BREAST WITH APPLE SAGE CHUTNEY

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 duck breasts, skin on with leg attached
  • 3 tbsp. cooking oil

Apple Sage Chutney

  • 1  1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples or other tart apples, skin on, medium dice
  • 3/4 cup apple juice
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup dried cherries
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins
  • 2 tbsp. honey, more if desired
  • 2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh sage
  • 1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 tbsp. minced garlic
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION

Duck Breasts

  1. Trim the duck breasts by removing any excess membrane from the inside and scoring the fat side in a criss-cross fashion.
  2. Season duck with salt and pepper.
  3. Place duck breasts, skin-side down, in a hot, oiled skillet and cook until skin has browned.
  4. Flip the duck breasts over and place in a 400-degree oven.
  5. Duck is best at medium rare so pull the breasts from the oven once they reach 125-130 degrees.
  6. Ten minutes in the oven is a good starting point.
  7. Let the duck rest for 5 minutes before slicing on the bias.

Chutney

  1. Combine the apples, apple juice, sugar, vinegar, dried cherries, raisins, honey, sage, rosemary, garlic, and lemon juice in a sauce pot and cook over medium heat until the mixture starts to bubble.
  2. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Let simmer for about 20 minutes.
  3. Remove the lid and cook another 20-25 minutes. The chutney should be fairly thick.
  4. Remove it from the pot and let cool. If too dry, add more honey and a splash of water to hydrate and glaze.

 

DUCK WITH BLACKBERRY SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 duck breasts
  • Salt & pepper
  • Oil or clarified butter for cooking

Blackberry Sauce

  • 1 large shallot, sliced
  • 4-6 sprigs of thyme
  • 2 cups of duck, venison, or veal stock (unsalted)
  • ½ cup dry red wine
  • 1 cup blackberries, divided
  • 1 tsp. black peppercorns
  • 2 tbsp. butter

ALSO WORKS WITH

snow goose or specklebelly goose, sandhill crane, venison steak

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT

fine mesh strainer, sauce pot and saute pan

PREPARATION

Prep

  1. Before you begin cooking, prep the duck breast. Pat very, very dry with paper towels and, if you left the skin on, score into crosshatch marks. Season it with salt and pepper a few hours before you plan to cook it. Leave it inside your fridge uncovered to dry the skin out. Pull to bring it to room temperature when you start making the sauce.

Dewberry Sauce

  1. Pre-heat a small saucepot over medium heat. Add a small splash of cooking oil or clarified butter. Once melted, toss in the shallots and thyme. Allow the aromatics to sauté until soft and translucent. Pour in the stock, red wine, ½ cup of blackberries and peppercorns.
  2. Bring it to a very soft boil and reduce heat so that it has a constant, gentle simmer. Let the sauce reduce down to one cup (roughly 1/3 of original volume). This could take 30-45 minutes. Do not add salt.
  3. When the sauce has reduced, pour through a fine mesh strainer into a separate container. Press the blackberry seeds to extract as much juices from the pulp as you can. Set aside.

Seared Duck

  1. Pre-heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of cooking oil with a high smoke point or clarified butter. Once melted, lay the duck breasts skin-side down. Use a small spatula to press it down to avoid the center from popping up while contracting. Sear for 2-4 minutes or until golden brown, then flip. Continue cooking on the opposite side to your desired doneness. Timing will depend on the size of the breast. The internal temp should be 125 for very rare and up to 135 for medium. Remove and set aside to rest.
  2. Reduce the heat to medium-low and deglaze the pan with the reserved sauce, scraping the fond (or small cracklings) found at the bottom. Let the sauce gently boil and cook for another couple of minutes and then swirl the butter in. Stir the sauce until the butter is fully incorporated, then add in remaining ½ cup of blackberries. Turn the heat off and let the sauce cool and thicken. Taste and season with pinch of salt and pepper.
  3. Slice the duck breast and serve with the blackberry sauce.