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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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A very quick and easy appetizer or side dish to prepare that packs a punch of flavor...

Servings: (3 to 4)
Prep: 2 Mins. |
Bake 8 to 10 Mins.

Posted by Sandra

INGREDIENTS

½ of a (20 oz. bag) of frozen Ore-Ida Crispers
1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
¼ teaspoon smoked paprika (or sweet)
pinch of kosher salt
pinch of ground pepper
-- jarred chili sauce, for dipping (or, click here for: Homemade Chili Sauce)
-- a wedge of lime, to squeeze over fries before serving

METHOD

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil, spray with oil, and set aside. Prepare a serving platter with a small container of chili sauce for dipping in center, and set aside.

Place the fries in a medium bowl, and sprinkle with chili powder, smoked paprika, kosher salt, and ground pepper.

Place seasoned fries on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer so they are not touching, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until crispy brown. Remove hot fries from oven and squeeze fresh lime juice over them, and immediately place on serving platter around the chili sauce while hot. – Enjoy.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Tip: If you like more lime flavor, feel free to sprinkle about ¼ teaspoon of fresh lime zest over them while hot as well as its juice.

I feel guilty that I havent shared this recipe yet.  It is so super easy and tasty its ridiculous!  I got this from my mom and its great for a quick week night meal and tasty enough that you could make it for guests too!  It only has 5 ingredients - all of which I always have on hand.  I usually pour it over some chicken breasts and pop them in the oven for an hour while I cook some rice and veggies.  My mom would usually do something more exciting like spareribs or something, but its so versatile you could do whatever you want!  Throw in a wok with your stirfry veggies or let it simmer in the oven with some meat.  Give it a try!  Its a gem.

Teriyaki Sauce

1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. ground ginger

Mix all ingredients together until smooth.  Pour over desired dish.  Recommendations: pour over chicken breasts, pork spareribs, etc, and bake at 350 for about an hour.  Or add to your stovetop stirfry during the last few minutes of cooking.  Enjoy!

Ever wonder what to make with ground chicken besides, chili, meatballs and burgers? I do all the time and when I ask people reply "the same things you would make with ground beef." I get that but I want something different. Thats how this recipe was born. As always you can change this recipe to suit your tastebuds. Other options would be a marsala sauce (with or without the mushrooms), caramelized onion topping, mix in some feta cheese and use greek seasonings, use moroccan seasonings and serve it over couscous, the possibilities are endless.


Italian Chicken Patties and Garlic Wine Sauce

Yields: 6 patties

Ingredients:

1 pound ground chicken
1 10 oz. package frozen spinach, squeezed and drained
1 egg, beaten
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
approx 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper
Italian seasoning
garlic powder
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup of chicken stock
wondra flour
shredded mozzarella (swiss or fontina would be good too), optional.

Directions:

1. Saute onion and 3 cloves minced garlic in olive oil and set aside to cool. In a large bowl combine ground chicken, drained spinach, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder, egg and breadcrumbs. Mix with your hands to combine all seasonings. If mixture is very wet add more breadcrumbs. It will remain sticky.

2. Preheat oven to 350. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet. Form patties and gently place in oil and let cook until browned, turn over and cook the other side. When all patties are browned place on a baking sheet and continue to cook in oven (to make sure the chicken is cooked all the way)while you make the sauce.

3. Heat 2 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp butter in pan, add 2 cloves minced garlic and cook over medium low heat, (do not burn or garlic will turn bitter). Add wine and let reduce by half, then add chicken stock. Let sauce cook down and reduce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If you want the sauce to be thicker stir in some wondra flour.

4. Return patties to pan with sauce, turning to coat both sides. If desired, top with some shredded mozzarella and put the pan under the broiler to melt.

I had a little accident with this sauce; I used some fresh paprika peppers from an assortment of peppers I was growing out from seeds we picked up in Hungary a few years back. My assumption was that they were all reasonably sweet peppers. That assumption, it turned out, was quite, quite wrong. At least one of them was a humdinger of a hot pepper. Everybody still thought this was delicious, some of us because of the hot pepper, and some of us despite the hot pepper. Ill have to try it again with a little more attention to which peppers I am using.

As usual, salt will depend on whether your stock was salted or not, but if not, then try about half a teaspoon of it.

4 to 6 servings
1 hour 45 minutes - 30 minutes prep time


3 heads of garlic
2 cups chopped fresh sweet red peppers
8 large (1.5  kilos; 3 pounds) skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon smoked sweet Spanish or Hungarian paprika
salt to taste
1 tablespoon sherry
1 teaspoon honey

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Trim the garlic heads (HEADS, not cloves), and wrap them in foil. Roast them for about half an hour, until tender.

Meanwhile, wash, core and chop the peppers. Thick-walled peppers are best; such as Alma paprika, but Red Shepherd is widely available and should do. Put the peppers in a roasting pan, and arrange the chicken pieces over them.  Pour on the stock, and put them in the oven with the garlic. At this point, the garlic should be ready in 15 or 20 minutes; at that point remove it and reduce the heat to 350°F. (If the garlic isnt quite done, just leave it in until it is, but do reduce the heat.)

Once the peppers are very soft, in about 45 minutes, remove the pan from the oven. Remove all the peppers into a food processor, and as much of the chicken stock as you can as well. Return the chicken pieces to the oven to continue cooking while you make the sauce.

Squeeze the garlic out of the heads into the food processor, and discard the papery hulls. Add the flour, paprika, salt to taste - this will depend very much on whether your chicken stock was salted or not - the sherry, and the honey. Purée until very smooth. Pull the chicken out of the oven again, and pour the sauce evenly over it. Return it to the oven for another 15 or 20 minutes, until the sauce is thickened and bubbly.




Last year at this time I made Vaguely Asian Cabbage Salad.