Duck Kabobs

Youth days for waterfowl season were last weekend October 8-9. If your junior hunter connected with any ducks over the weekend or you're just looking forward to the regular season, which opens October 22nd, try this simple recipe sure to please everyone.

Grilled Duck and Veggie Kabobs

recipe adapted and photo from allrecipes.com

4 skinned, boned duck breasts

2 yellow squash

2 cups of broccoli

1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

8 presoaked wooden or metal skewers

Marinade:

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

2 Tablespoons minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Cut the duck breast into 2" pieces. Mix the marinade ingredients together and coat the duck pieces in the marinade for at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.

Wash the vegetables and cut the squash and broccoli into 2" pieces, making sure there is room to put the skewer through. Toss in 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

When the meat is done marinading, thread the meat and vegetables onto the skewer, allow 1/4 - 1/2" space between the vegetables and the meat. Grill the skewers over medium high heat until vegetables have a slight char and meat is cooked through, about 3 minutes a side. Sprinkle with lemon juice and serve hot.

Venison was highlighted at the Finger Lakes Cork and Fork local food event ...plus a duck recipe...

Over the weekend of October 22/23, Seneca County's Chamber of Commerce put on a great local food event, Finger Lakes Cork and Fork, featuring local food and wine, plus chef pairings to over 1,000 guests. The Wild Harvest Table was invited to participate with a display table and as one of seven chef demonstrations, making Venison "Veal" Cutlets paired with Standing Stone winery's 2007 Pinnacle wine. About 60 people were at the venison demonstration, ranging from wild game enthusiasts to "not sure if they like game". Many of the "not sure they liked wild game" people tried the venison cutlets and really liked the flavor. The chef from the DiVine Restaurant at the Hotel Clarence, which was recently awarded a four star rating, tried the venison (three times) and said it was "excellent!". Archery season for deer is in full swing now along with the rut, so hopefully you can serve this local food delicacy on your table soon!

A well-known local chef, Sam Izzo of Simply Red Bistro at Sheldrake Point, made a delicious braised duck at the Cork and Fork event with farm raised duck, yet it would work well with wild mallard or black duck. Duck season opened Oct 23 and runs through December 6th and reopens December 26th to January 9th in Seneca County. Check with NYS DEC for the season dates in other parts of NY. Below is Chef Izzo's duck recipe. Enjoy!

Chef Samantha Izzo of Simply Red Bistro at Sheldrake Point

Braised Duck with Sweet & Sour Cabbage

Wine: Pinot Noir from Sheldrake Point Winery

Feature Food: Duck

Serves 4

The Duck

INGREDIENTS:

1 4-5 pound duck, cleaned and left whole with skin on

1 cup prunes

1 tart apple

¼ cup oil

sprinkle of salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven 450 degrees. Place duck on rack in a roasting pan. Fill the cavity with the apples and prunes. Sprinkle with oil and salt and pepper. Roast Duck for 25 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees. Continue to roast about 1hour and 15 minutes. Allow duck to cool and remove the skin, pull off all the duck meat . You can pull off the cavity and keep to one side.

The Braised Cabbage

INGREDIENTS:

2 tbsps oil

1 small chef onion sliced

1 tart apple sliced

8 cups of red cabbage sliced really thin

2 cups cider vinegar

½ cup cane sugar

1 tsp celery seed

1 cup thick slab bacon sliced

1 tsp salt

2 cups fennel sliced

DIRECTIONS:

Place all ingredients in a pot and simmer for an hour on medium heat. Add the duck meat to the braised cabbage and reheat slightly. Served topped with sour cream and chives.

Waterfowl brunch

Canada geese and ducks close this weekend on January 10th. If you harvest a few ducks in the morning you may want to consider a waterfowl brunch.

Duck for Brunch
1 duck breast (both halves)
1 clove minced garlic
1 T. fresh parsley, if available
1 T. olive oil

Thinly slice fresh duck breast. Heat olive oil in a saute pan or iron skillet over medium heat. Add duck, garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Saute the duck for a few minutes until cooked. Best served rare or medium rare for tenderness but cook according to your preference. Serve with eggs and brunch fixings in lieu of traditional bacon or sausage.

Waterfowl season opened Saturday

Ducks opened Oct 24th until Dec 6th for the first season in Seneca County. Canada geese also opened Oct 24th and go until Nov 21. NYS DEC has a very informational migratory game bird pdf that includes a waterfowl hunter's code of ethics, some guidelines for waterfowl consumption, license requirements, shipping information, etc. Of particular interest to wild harvest feasting is a short section that reads as follows:

"The NYS Department of Health recommends
that:
• You eat no mergansers.
• You remove all fat and skin from waterfowlt
before cooking.
• You discard stuffing after cooking waterfowl.
• You eat no more than two waterfowl per
month."

Here is an easy way to prepare duck or goose breast in a way that masks any hint of gameyness...

Thai (red or green) Waterfowl Curry
1 duck (both halves)or goose (1 half)breast cut into thin slices
1 Tbsp red or green thai curry paste found in the asian section of many grocery stores (check for a curry recipe on the jar)
1 can coconut milk (low-fat if possible)
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
3 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 cup fresh veggies, such as thin sliced onion, carrot, broccoli, celery, etc

Par boil the thin sliced duck or goose breast for 1-2 minutes and drain liquid. Then proceed to make the recipe for red or green curry dish on the label of the Thai curry paste. Basically, simmer all above ingredients for 10-15 minutes.

Dog Days of Summer

August is an excellent time to start cleaning out the freezer. You may have some venison packages tucked in the back, perhaps a duck breast or pheasant buried in the deep freeze. Some of this meat may even have a little freezer burn on an outer edge. But before you decide to cook them up for the pooch, here are some ways to make those lost freezer relics tasty.

First, defrost the meat safely in the refrigerator. Then look for any whitish discoloration along the edges where it may have gotten freezer burn and trim this off.

Stir Fry with Seasonal vegetables (and out of season meat)
1/4 cup soy sauce (low sodium preferably)
1/4 cup sherry or chicken broth (or water if need be)
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp. ginger
1 Tbsp brown sugar or honey
pinch of red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb. game meat (such as venison steak, duck breast, pheasant or quail) sliced- you may want to tenderize the meat before slicing by pounding it with a meat mallet.
2 Tbsp. flour, seasoned to taste with salt and pepper
2 cups of fresh sliced vegetables, such as carrots, zucchini, sweet peppers, brocoli, greens beans, etc (you can use frozen veggies in a pinch)

In a small bowl mix together the soy sauce, sherry (or chicken broth), garlic, ginger, brown sugar or honey, and red pepper. Set aside. Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet or wok over medium high heat. Dredge the meat in the seasoned flour and put in skillet with hot oil to brown meat. Cook about 3 minutes and then add the vegetables. Cook for another minute or two stirring constantly. Add the soy sauce mix and stir until sauce thickens, 1-3 minutes (if sauce doesn't thicken enough to your liking, you may add 1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed in 1 Tbsp water or chicken broth to the pan). Serve over whole grain rice.

Maple Syrup!

"Sugaring off" has begun, and it is time to start thinking about recipes using local maple syrup. The New York State Maple Producers Association has loads of good information about the how, what, when, where and who of maple syrup production.

Here is a recipe from Epicurious.com to try with NY maple syrup and some duck breasts from the larder:
Broiled Duck Breasts with Orange Chipolte Sauce (use link for the recipe) This photo is from the Epicurious.com website along with the recipe.

Waterfowl season has just ended...

The top of Cayuga Lake is frozen, and the waterfowl hunting season for duck and Canada geese has ended in Seneca County . Hopefully you have some ducks to breast or dress whole to eat and enjoy. I have taken to the simple way of breasting a duck by making a small slit in the skin along the breast bone, pulling the skin back to expose the breast meat, and then removing the meat by carefully running my boning knife along the breast bone and ribs to create 2 perfect skinless, boneless breast fillets. The flavor of duck varies, depending on the species, age and condition of the duck. Mallards, teals, black duck, redheads, pintails and ringnecks are excellent for eating (and of course the Canvasback, but they were prohibited this year- no cheating), and of course, the younger the better. A 100 gram skinless, boneless duck breast will provide you with 123 calories, 4 grams of fat, and high quality protein.

Here is a recipe to try from your weekend larder....

SEARED DUCK BREAST WITH PAN JUICES AND RASPBERRY PRESERVES

4 boneless wild duck breast halves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3/4 cup dry sherry

2 Tablespoons seedless raspberry preserves (you could try other fruit, such as cherry, currant, blueberry, etc)

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon fresh minced garlic (optional)

Sprinkle the duck breast evenly with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine the sherry and fruit preserves. Set aside. In a 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add breast halves and sear for 3 minutes, turning once. Add onions (and optional garlic) to the the pan and cook for 2 minutes longer. Pour sherry mixture over the duck breasts. Cook for 4 to 8 minutes, or until meat is desired doneness and the sauce is slighty reduced and thicker. You may remove the meat, when it is rare to medium rare, to a plate and cover loosely with foil, and then reduce the sauce to a desired consistency. To serve, slice breast meat and slightly fan out the slices over cooked noodles or rice. Pour the sauce over the meat and pasta. Garnish with some fruit and greenery.

note: duck meat is more tender when cooked rare to medium and can become tough if over cooked.

Serves 4, but some may say just 2 servings (I can think of one hunter in particular). If you would like nutritional consultation regarding serving sizes please call my office at Seneca CCE, but keep in mind a portion of meat should be 3 ounces which is about the size of a deck of cards.