Peggy Sundstrom
Seduced to Hunt
It’s true. I was seduced to become a hunter more than 25 years ago, and not in the way you might think. While I had fallen in love with an avid waterfowl hunter whose passion for the sport intrigued me, I was not, in fact, seduced to the hunt by him, but by my first taste of bacon-wrapped teriyaki duck.
I grew up in an urban household with a focus on outdoor activities, including camping, backpacking, fishing and other such avocations, but not hunting. The closest I had come to game was at a restaurant that served delicious, but certainly not wild, meat (think farmed venison or boar). I was an enthusiastic cook, but I hadn’t given much consideration to harvesting my own meat. That was a somewhat foreign concept to this California girl in the days long before the sustainable food movement took hold in our country. With no exposure to family members who hunted, I was truly a novice when it came to the idea of harvesting wild game.
No, my seduction was triggered by that delicious dish of duck. It caused me to think that if I bought a hunting license, my hunting friend could bring home twice as much game! Informed of the game laws in the State of California, I realized that I would need to learn to hunt. And so I did.
Now these many years later, I still savor the taste of bacon-wrapped teriyaki duck. It’s a dish to serve people who have never eaten game or to those who claim they don’t like the taste of wild duck. In fact, many people shy away from wild duck, believing it to be fishy or gamey tasting. This needn’t be. Handled properly, duck can be succulent, delicious and not a bit gamey.
The type of duck I ate in that first memorable meal was mallard, but the recipe below works equally well with other duck species, including those common to our western hunting grounds, like teal, pintail, wood ducks and canvasbacks. If you have concerns that the duck you harvested might have a gamey taste, by all means soak the meat before you cook it. Soaking will help to draw out any excess blood or bitter tastes that might be in the meat, and depending on where you harvested the duck and what the duck was eating prior to harvest, the short time required to soak the meat is well worth the effort. Additionally, using a brine helps ensure that the meat stays juicy during the grilling process.
- Duck breasts
- Thin-sliced bacon of your choice
- Teriyaki sauce
- Toothpicks
- Marinate the duck breasts in teriyaki sauce[1] for about 2 to 4 hours. Remove the breasts from the marinade, reserving the marinade for later use. Wrap each breast in thin-sliced bacon, and secure firmly with a couple of wooden toothpicks. Heat up the barbecue, and adjust the temperature to medium high, similar to the heat you would use to grill a steak. Cook the wrapped duck breasts on the grill, turning periodically, until the bacon sizzles, and the breast meat is pink, but no longer rare in the middle. Try 10 minutes per inch of thickness as a starting point and adjust as dictated by your personal tastes. The cooked duck should be pink and juicy inside; overcooking will render the duck tough and inedible.
- Alternatively, you could broil the duck breasts in the oven. Watch them carefully so that the bacon doesn’t burn.
- While the duck is grilling, warm the teriyaki marinade over medium-low heat just until it comes to a simmer. Serve the duck breasts over steamed rice, with some of the warm marinade over the top, accompanied by a glass of Zinfandel from your favorite vintner. Bon appétit!
- Directions for optional soaking: Immerse the duck breasts in milk or in a brine solution. A plastic bag with a sealing top works well for this. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours or overnight. Remove the breasts from the soaking liquid and discard the liquid. Rinse the breasts and pat them dry with a paper towel. Proceed with the recipe above. A simple brine solution can be made by combining ¼ cup kosher salt, ¼ cup granulated sugar and 4 cups of water. Stir well to combine. This recipe makes over a quart of brine, more than you will need for a couple of duck breasts. You can store the solution in the refrigerator and use it to brine other meats such as pork or chicken. Do NOT reuse a brine solution. Discard it after use.
- [1] There are many good brands of teriyaki sauce that can be found in supermarkets. You can also make your own teriyaki sauce. Combine ½ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup sherry or sake, 1 T. granulated sugar, 1 minced clove of garlic and 2 tsp. grated fresh ginger (or ½ tsp dry ginger).
[…] part, like Peggy, I’m in it for the food when it comes to hunting. I absolutely love to cook and I love […]