Drunk Duck

Every so often, my brother gives me ducks and geese brought back from his hunting trips. I used to be, decades ago, a fairly regular hunter of dove and waterfowl, but I haven't been out in the field since the early '90s. I adore the rich flavor of well-prepared wild game, however, and so this week pulled out several packages from the nether regions of the deep freeze. Nobody else in my immediate family likes game, so I was pretty much on my own.

One problem with cooking wild duck or goose is that if overcooked (which is very easy to do) the so-called "gamey" taste folks dislike becomes very pronounced. In a nutshell, the meat tastes like liver. Ugh. So the trick for someone like myself, who cooks it so seldom, is to walk that tightrope between undercooked (I'm not one for rare meat) and overdone. For wild duck and goose, the juices should be pink, but not red.

Alas, on package of ducks were hopelessly freezer burnt--a hole had been torn in the package. I boiled these and after stripping the meat from the bones (bones going into the trash) gave the dogs a well-received treat. The rest--a package of tiny teal ducks and another of speckle bellied goose breasts--I allowed to thaw in the refrigerator for several days, then soaked in a brine solution overnight. This, supposedly, blunts the strongest of the gamey taste (as does cooking with apple and/or onion slices). But what recipe to use, which was simple enough for my feeble kitchen skills yet interesting enough to pique my interest? "Drunk Duck" from BackwoodsBound.com turned out to be the winner.

I ended up doubling the recipe, since I'd twice the amount of meat their recipe called for--six goose breasts, and a like number of the much smaller teal breasts (once separated from the bone). I used a bottle of Sutter's Home white merlot to soak the stuffing (two cups worth), but in hindsight I think a full-bodied red, either a zinfandel or merlot, would work better.

Even with my uncertainty about the proper wine to use, this dish was a winner. I cooked it for 45 minutes, probably about 5 minutes too short, but the teal--oh, the teal was perfect! Excellent texture, with rich, full-bodied flavor. Fantastic. The goose was good as well, but a shade too salty. Couldn't compare with the teal. Next time, perhaps, I'll marinade them in red wine before cooking. That'd seem to go with the motif of the dish, no? In any event, I have quite a bit of the dish remaining after dinner, so we'll see how it stands up to reheating for leftovers. I suspect it won't be half bad.

I also popped open a bottle of my very-limited edition mint mead (metheglin), which I bottled and put back in '07. A very nice mead, with solid honey flavors and light sweetness. None of the rough harsh flavor that can overwhelm young meads. Very smooth. Hardly any hint of mint, though. I'm not that big on mint, so I probably was too timid in the amount I added during fermentation. I'll know better next time.

Now Playing: Billy Joel The Nylon Curtain