Recipe: Marinated Roast Wild Ducks

You can never have enough duck recipes. A popular meat for hunters and non-hunters alike, this particular duck recipe from the NRA Member's Wild Game Cookbook, Second Edition is chock-full of delicious ingredients that will appeal to any palette. Although, the hunter's palette typically calls for wild ducks, not store bought meat.

The following recipe is taken directly from the NRA Members' Wild Game Cookbook, Second Edition. to buy your very own copy of the cookbook, visit the NRA Program Materials Center.

Ingredients

• 2 ducks

Marinade:
• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 pod garlic
• 3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup red table wine
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons black pepper
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon Tabasco
• 1 tablespoon celery salt
• 2 quarts water
• 1 cup apple cider

Clean ducks well, removing the two small glands along the backbone just in front of the tail. These are often missed by commercial pluckers. Cut onions and garlic into small pieces and mix all ingredients in a pot large enough to hold two ducks. Submerge ducks in marinade and keep chilled for at least 12 hours. Two days will not hurt.

Roast Ducks:

• 1 orange, diced
• 1 apple, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced (garlic juice will substitute)
• 1 teaspoon onion juice
• 2 teaspoons red hot sauce (not Tabasco)
• 1 teaspoon all purpose seasoning (salt and pepper will substitute)
• 6 slices bacon
• 2 cups apple cider
• 2 cups saved marinade
• 1 large roaster with elevated rack
• 4 toothpicks
• 1 degreasing cup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove ducks from marinade and pat dry with paper towels, inside and out. Save two cups marinade. Sprinkle and rub ducks inside and out with mixture of red hot sauce, garlic, and onion juice. Season with all purpose seasoning or salt and pepper, inside and out. Stuff cavities with minced orange, apple, and celery. Close cavities with toothpicks and place breast down on an elevated rack in a heavy roaster. Cover ducks with bacon and add two cups cider and two cups saved marinade. The ducks should be elevated on rack above liquid. Cook for approximately one and three fourths hours or until quite tender around breast bone. The weight of the pot affects the time for the inside to reach cooking temperature. When done, remove cavity contents and halve ducks, one half per person. Degrease pot drippings via a degreasing cup or bulb type baster and serve oil-free dripping as gravy.
Yield: 4 servings

Originally Submitted By:
Marshall B. Brinkley
Baton Rouge, LA