This being the last day of duck season I thought it proper to give it a little recognition. Those persons that hunt duck are crazy mad for it. Some folks get trailers full of decoys and gear. They pull their fancy trailers to the duck "places", get set up, and start calling in the ducks. Then when they are done they pack everything up, neatly, into the trailer and take their ducks home. Our duck hunting does not have this much organization or class but is just as important to our lives because we like to eat the meat.
During duck season - if I happen to wonder over to my son's house - I will find ducks on his porch... frozen solid. (After all it is 20 below.) The great out doors acts as a giant freezer which works out well as you can finish the butcher in a few days when you have more time. No worries.
We fight over duck. We didn't use to but now we do. One of my sons guides in Alaska and happened to spend some time with a duck guide. He taught him how to cook duck. Before we learned to cook duck - duck hunting was just something to do but now it is part of the grocery list.
You cut the meat into 1 inch squares, then marinate the meat in melted butter and lots of chopped garlic for an hour or two. More is better than less. Heat up an iron skillet until water dances when you fling a few drops at it, add some high temp oil, and drop those tasty little squares in and sear each side. They will be pink inside and taste like fillet mignon and they are called scoobies.
The grands got duck calls for Christmas this year. We need to start training the next generation.
I'm very happy to hear that someone has come up with a way to cook duck and not have it taste like liver. And I especially like the name scoobies. I would definitely expect it to taste better with a name like that!
ReplyDeleteNow I can't help but wonder if you've come across a palatable recipe for prairie dog, along with a more marketable name for the dish. As I'm sure you are aware, prairie dogs are very plentiful in many areas of Wyoming and most ranchers are happy to let people take as many as they want. So it seems that there is a abundant and inexpensive food resource there just waiting to be developed with the right preparation method and name.