I just returned from 2 days of duck hunting at Honey Brake—a true sportsman's paradise in east-central Louisiana. I'll have plenty more to tell you about the Honey Brake Experience, but for now I'll get straight to the meat.
I came home with solid brace of ducks and, instead of adding them to my freezer full of delicious wild flesh, for once I made haste and decided to fire 'em up right away. I didn't want to go with my standby duck recipes that I routinely fall back on, so I dug out the famous NAHC Wild Bounty Cookbook to try something new. (Note: You can get an iPad edition for $2.99 right here.) It's true—it's filled with succulent wild game recipes that would make your grandma insecure about her hand-written recipe book.
I opted to prepare my green-winged teal and canvasback with the recipe plainly titled, "Oven Duck or Goose." Here it is:
1/4 cup finely chopped onion; 2 tablespoons margarine, melted; 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup; 4 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed; 1 tablespoon soy sauce; 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice; 1/2 cup red wine; 2 ducks, halved or 1 goose, cut up; Salt and pepper to taste
Sauté finely chopped onion in margarine and add to soup, orange juice, soy sauce, lemon juice and wine. Mix together well.
Pat ducks or goose dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place birds in roasting pan and pour soup mixture over all.
Cover and bake at 300 degrees F for 3-3 1/2 hours or until tender. Serve pan juices over birds.
(Note: I didn't have red wine on hand, so I substituted cranberry juice. Margarine also wasn't in my fridge, so I went with butter. I also doubled the sauce part of the recipe because I had extra birds and I can never get enough sauce.)
The end result: tangy, zingin', tender deliciousness. I served mine with a side of stuffing—a perfect complement. Now I'll de-bone the leftover birds and add some vegetables and corn starch to the sauce to transform it into a tasty soup for later eats.
Have you used the NAHC Wild Bounty Cookbook? Comment below.