Best 6 Wild Duck With Root Beer Sauce Recipes

ROAST WILD DUCK

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F or higher. I often cook ducks at 500°F, and small ducks are best cooked at these high temperatures. (You can get away with 425°F if that's as high as your oven will go.) Let the oven preheat a good 20 to 30 minutes. Let the ducks rest at room temperature while the oven heats up.
• If the duck is reasonably fat, use a needle to pierce the skin where there is a lot of fat under it: The front of the breast, between the breast and legs, at the flanks, and all over the back of the bird. Be careful not to pierce the meat of the breast. Rub lemon over the bird and dust it with a good salt. Stuff the spent lemon or orange wedge inside the duck.
• Place a few celery stalks onto an oven-proof pan (I use a cast-iron frying pan), arranging them so you can rest the ducks on top. This prevents the ducks from sitting in their own juices. Roast in the oven as follows: About 10 to 15 minutes for teal or other small ducks, 13 to 20 minutes for anything up to the size of a gadwall, 18 to 25 minutes for a mallard or canvasback. The key here is an internal temperature of about 140 to 145°F at the deepest part of the breast meat, which is in the front third of the breast. Don't have an instant read thermometer? Get one. Ducks need to be cooked medium-rare to medium. An overcooked duck is a sad thing.
• Take the duck out, move it to a cutting board and rest it. Let small ducks rest about 5 minutes. Large ducks need to rest closer to 10 minutes, and geese up to 15 minutes.
• If you want a simple pan sauce, remove the celery and stir a tablespoon or two of flour into the drippings. Let this cook on the stove (you might be able to do this solely with the residual heat in the hot pan until this roux is the color of coffee-with-cream. Add a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, some wine or brandy and the juice of a lemon. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water or stock. Whisk everything to combine and add salt to taste. Turn off the heat, add a tablespoon of minced parsley and a knob of butter. Swirl to combine and serve.

ROAST DUCK WITH ORANGE AND GINGER

Steps:

• Rinse duck and pat dry. Remove neck and giblets and save for another purpose. Remove excess fat from cavity and tail area and trim off a bit of flappy neck skin. Prick duck skin all over with tip of sharp paring knife, making sure not to penetrate meat.
• Mix together salt and 5-spice powder. Season interior of duck with 1 tablespoon salt mixture; use remainder to generously season exterior (you may have a little left over). Combine orange zest with grated ginger and garlic, then smear mixture inside cavity. Place orange wedges in cavity. Tie legs together. Secure neck flap with wooden skewer or toothpicks. Place duck on rack in roasting pan breast-side-up and refrigerate overnight, uncovered.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, bring duck to room temperature and make the glaze: Bring orange juice, honey, sugar and soy sauce to a simmer. Add sliced ginger and star anise, then reduce mixture until you have a medium-thick syrup, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Roast duck for 2 hours, carefully pouring off fat and turning duck over every 30 minutes. Paint with glaze and roast another 30 minutes (2 1/2 hours in all). Tent with foil if glaze begins to get too dark. Duck is done when temperature at thickest part of leg reads 165 degrees. Paint duck once more, keep warm and let rest 20 minutes. Use poultry shears to cut into quarters (remove backbone first) or carve in the traditional way, removing legs from carcass and slicing breast. Serve with mashed butternut squash if desired.

GRILLED WILD DUCK BREAST

Steps:

• Stir together the Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, hot sauce, garlic, and pepper. Add the duck breasts, and toss well to coat. Cover, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to overnight.
• Preheat a grill for medium-high heat.
• Grill the duck to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-well, depending on the size of the breast, and the temperature of the grill.

ROAST WILD DUCK WITH BLACKBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Prick skin all over duck, remove as much fat as possible on the domestic bird.
• Rub wild duck with walnut oil or wrap in bacon.
• Domestic duck is more greasy and does not need oil or bacon.
• Stuff 1/2 the onions and turnip cubes into the cavity.
• Season cavity with salt and pepper.
• Place duck in roasting pan with about 1/2 inch of water on center rack in oven, breast side down.
• turn breast side up after cooked for 20 minutes and bake about 40 minutes longer, til just done.
• While duck is roasting, place giblets and remaining onions and turnips in a small dutch oven or oven proof saucepan and roast in the oven with the duck til well browned, about 20 minutes.
• Remove dutch oven to the stove top.
• Over medium heat, deglaze the dutch oven in the stock, scraping all the bits stuck to the bottom and sides of the pan.
• Add the seasonings, wine and vinegar.
• Continue to cook til liqid is reduced by 1/3, about 20 minutes.
• Add preserves and blackberries.
• Cook another 10 minutes or until the preserves are melted into the liquid and the berries have cooked down and are soft.
• Strain liquid into a clean sauce pan and set aside.
• Discard the solids strained out.
• Remove roasted duck from the oven and let stand tented under aluminum foil for 15 minutes before carving.
• Reheat sauce just before serving.
• Carve duck or quarter, discarding the stuffing and serve hot with sauce poured over top.

WILD DUCK AND ANDOUILLE SAUCE PIQUANT

Steps:

• Brown off duck breasts in some olive oil.
• Make a roux with oil and flour.
• Add onions, bell pepper, green onions, and parsley to roux.
• Stir and cook.
• Add one cup water and garlic.
• Cook.
• Add wine and some more water.
• Add other seasonings and tomato sauce.
• Mix well.
• Add andouille (or smoked sausage) and duck breasts.
• Stir.
• Simmer on low heat for 3 to 4 hours.
• Stir occasionally.
• Add more salt and cayenne to your taste.
• Serve over spaghetti or rice.

ROAST WILD DUCK WITH CRANBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Rinse duck under cold water and pat dry. Remove any large lumps of fat from skin. Rub inside cavity and skin of duck with lemon. Season cavity and skin with salt and pepper. Truss bird, place on rack and set in shallow roasting pan. Roast at 350°F for 30 minutes.
• Pierce skin all over with fork to release fat. Continue roasting until duck is completely cooked, around 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
• Once every hour, remove all but 1 cup of fat from pan (some remaining fat will keep pan from scorching). Increase oven temperature to 500°F for the last 15 minutes of roasting to crisp skin. Remove duck from oven and set on warm plate. Pour off and discard fat.
• Place roasting pan on top of stove. Add port and heat over low heat, scrapping up any browned bits. Add butter and heat until melted. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Add chicken broth and whisk constantly until smooth and thickened, around 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in orange juice and 2 tablespoons brown sugar and mix well. Add cranberries and cook over high heat until cranberries pop, around 2 to 3 minutes. Add cayenne and more salt and pepper to taste. If mixture is too tart, add more brown sugar.
• To serve, using poultry shears cut duck in half lengthwise. Place on two serving dishes. Pour half of sauce over each serving. Serve immediately.