sagebrush
Active member
In my younger day, I was a waterfowl fanatic. I've eaten more ducks and geese than most guys will kill in a lifetime. I started waterfowling back when you could kill 7 sprig in a day, and I usually did. Anyways, I saw in another thread some guys interested in eating waterfowl and thought, rather than hijacking a thread, I would put up my favorite waterfowl recipe.
I prefer to roast a duck whole and fry a goose breast half with the skin on. To prepare the duck, I just place it on a rack over a pan and roast in a pre-heated oven at 425 for 25 minutes for the larger species and 20 minutes on the smaller. I like the skin to be browned and crispy, so I will broil on high to 3-4 minutes if necessary. Just depends on your oven. The bird is done when still rare, but warm in the center. When I say rare, I mean dark purple to dark, dark red. For goose breast, I fry in a little olive oil on a medium high heat for 3 minutes per side starting with the skin side down on a higher heat, then turning and lower the heat just a little for the flesh side. I serve with a dipping sauce and your choice of side dishes. The dipping sauce is what makes the dish.
Dipping Sauce
Cut the tops off 4 heads of garlic to expose the tops of the gloves. Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350 until the tops just start to brown and the gloves start to soften. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Sautee 1 cup of sliced shallots in butter until carmelized. You will need to watch your shallots closely because they will go from browned to burnt very quickly. Once the shallots are carmelized, remove the pan from heat and deglaze with brandy. The brandy will immediately boil and thicken with the butter and shallot liquid. You want to achieve a consistency of a paste or very thick gravy. Put the shallot mixture into a food processor, squeeze the garlic cloves out of the heads and into the processor. Process, adding strong chicken broth (I use 2 bouillon cubes to 1 cup water) until the mixture achieves the consistency of gravy. Finish by adding a half cup of chopped fresh basil. Serve warm on the side and dip the waterfowl into the sauce as you cut and eat. Don't substitute for the shallots or fresh basil or you might as well not bother trying the sauce.
I have had some guests that had to close their eyes to get the first bite of rare duck into their mouth, but everyone I have served this dish to has always eaten every bite once they got started.
I prefer to roast a duck whole and fry a goose breast half with the skin on. To prepare the duck, I just place it on a rack over a pan and roast in a pre-heated oven at 425 for 25 minutes for the larger species and 20 minutes on the smaller. I like the skin to be browned and crispy, so I will broil on high to 3-4 minutes if necessary. Just depends on your oven. The bird is done when still rare, but warm in the center. When I say rare, I mean dark purple to dark, dark red. For goose breast, I fry in a little olive oil on a medium high heat for 3 minutes per side starting with the skin side down on a higher heat, then turning and lower the heat just a little for the flesh side. I serve with a dipping sauce and your choice of side dishes. The dipping sauce is what makes the dish.
Dipping Sauce
Cut the tops off 4 heads of garlic to expose the tops of the gloves. Drizzle with olive oil and bake at 350 until the tops just start to brown and the gloves start to soften. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Sautee 1 cup of sliced shallots in butter until carmelized. You will need to watch your shallots closely because they will go from browned to burnt very quickly. Once the shallots are carmelized, remove the pan from heat and deglaze with brandy. The brandy will immediately boil and thicken with the butter and shallot liquid. You want to achieve a consistency of a paste or very thick gravy. Put the shallot mixture into a food processor, squeeze the garlic cloves out of the heads and into the processor. Process, adding strong chicken broth (I use 2 bouillon cubes to 1 cup water) until the mixture achieves the consistency of gravy. Finish by adding a half cup of chopped fresh basil. Serve warm on the side and dip the waterfowl into the sauce as you cut and eat. Don't substitute for the shallots or fresh basil or you might as well not bother trying the sauce.
I have had some guests that had to close their eyes to get the first bite of rare duck into their mouth, but everyone I have served this dish to has always eaten every bite once they got started.
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