Recipes for Cook

Wild Duck with Orange Sauce

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Duck. It really beats me why venison has such a bad rap. As far as "gaminess" is concerned, wild duck packs the bigger punch (if not prepared correctly, of course). Rick usually throws it on the grill wrapped in bacon, and thats how I first had it. I was completely surprised by its texture and taste, having been used to domesticated duck widely found in Asian cuisine (i.e. Peking duck). For one, wild duck meat looks very dark. It almost has a blue-ish tinge. Two, unlike farmed-raised duck, the texture is not like chicken at all. Its more like red meat. And three, it CANNOT be overcooked. Fascinated, I searched online to learn more about this popular water fowl. 

The complaints I mostly found for cooking wild duck is that it can taste fishy and/or tough. The "fishy" taste varies from species to species, depending on the birds diet. This is especially true for fish-eating ducks. There are a few ways to tame this taste, but one popular way is to use fruit. The acidity helps to mellow the flavor. 

Wild duck should also be cooked only to medium-rare, and not recommended anywhere beyond that. Unlike farm-raised duck and even venison, wild duck is much less forgiving if pushed too far.

So weve been scratching our heads about a duck recipe, but did not want to do the usual wrapped-in-bacon bore. Its been a challenge for us, having run into the usual obstacles described above. But I think we have a winner here. The spices go great with the duck and the orange sauce adds a kind of balance. 

- 1 tsp. nutmeg
- 1 tbs. cornstarch
- 1 cup orange juice 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Assemble the seasonings. Chop the chives, like so. In a small bowl, mix together chives, poultry seasoning, parsley, garlic salt and cinnamon. 





3. Remove any silver skin and fat from the duck breasts.
4. Place a piece of aluminum foil big enough to envelope all four breasts on a cookie sheet. Lay the breasts on the foil. 
5. Rub the seasonings from step one into the breasts, bottom and top. Crack black pepper over the breasts, if you desire, at this time.


6. Dot pieces of butter on top of the breasts. Then place a bay leaf on each. 

7. Crimp up the sides of the aluminum foil, making a packet. Place in preheated oven for 45 minutes. 



8. Half an hour into baking, combine sugar, nutmeg, cornstarch and a little bit of the orange juice in a small sauce pan. Mix well. Then add the rest of the orange juice.

9. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Take off heat when the sauce is slightly thickened. Since theres corn starch in it, the sauce will thicken by itself. Dont try reducing it too much, or else youll end up with jello as it cools.
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