Recipe: Duck Piccata

by
posted on September 8, 2023
Duck Piccata On Plate

Wild duck is flavorful, and keeping the skin and fat intact is always beneficial. However, early-season birds can be loaded with pinfeathers and have not yet fattened up. Having a recipe to use lean duck breasts without skin provides the perfect reason and incentive to hunt, no matter the time of year.

Pulverized meat

Butter is a good way to replace natural fats in the bird. At the same time, briny capers and the rich and distinctive flavor of olives make every bite enjoyable. The duck should be tender and bursting with flavor.

Meat cooking

Piccata is an Italian dish typically made with beef or chicken but works extremely well with waterfowl.

Ingredients

  • 6 to 8 duck breasts, skinless and boneless
  • 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter (keep 2 additional tablespoons in reserve)

Plated duck piccata

Sauce

  • 1 cup of chicken stock
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 2 tablespoons of capers
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 12 Kalamata olives, sliced
Enjoying Piccata

Directions

  1. Spread the duck breasts on a cutting board and sprinkle with salt and garlic powder. Gently hammer the breasts with a meat mallet until ¼-inch thick. Do not overwork the meat.
  2. Pour the flour into a shallow bowl and dredge each duck cutlet until no moisture is showing through the flour. Shake off any excess flour.
  3. Add olive oil and butter to a large Camp Chef cast-iron frying pan over medium-high heat. In small batches, cook the cutlets for one minute on each side, turning once. The duck should be nicely browned. Set the duck aside.
  4. Add the chicken stock, lemon juice, capers, garlic and olives into the frying pan, and reduce heat to medium. Deglaze the pan by stirring the ingredients to dissolve the fond (brown bits). Add the remaining butter and stir it into the mixture. Add the duck cutlets back into the sauce and reduce the heat to low, allowing the duck to simmer for four minutes. Serve hot, adding capers and olives to each piece of duck.

Latest

Herman Shooting Revel Classic
Herman Shooting Revel Classic

#SundayGunday: Savage Revel Classic

This week on #SundayGunday we test-fire the Revel Classic, a new-for-2025 lever-action rimfire rifle available from Savage Arms. It’s offered in .22 Long Rifle now, and models in .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire and .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire will be available this summer.

Turkey Gun Tweaks: How to Fine-Tune Your Shotgun to Avoid a Miss

Specialized, ultra-tight-choked turkey guns can make bagging a bird more probable when the range is long—as long as you understand their drawbacks.

Gear Roundup for the Travelling Hunter

Looking for ways to hit the road this fall? Check out these gear options for the travelling hunter.

Young Turkey Hunters Post Big Numbers

Hunters aged 6 to 15 checked 1,443 gobblers during the Arkansas youth turkey hunts April 12 and 13, an increase of 22 percent over last year’s total. Meanwhile young turkey hunters in Ohio, enjoying their state’s special season to pursue gobblers the same weekend, took 1,740, beating the three-season average of 1,571 birds.

How to Decipher Turkey Movement

If you hunt turkeys long enough, you’ll see them do some crazy, unexpected things. Our man’s seen plenty of that, too—enough to make him think long and hard about how to counter some “Crazy Ivan” moves.



Get the best of American Hunter delivered to your inbox.