Warm Duck Stew on a Cool Winter Night
Back in early December just before sunset one afternoon, my husband and I sat in the truck near a swampy area not far from our house to watch (and listen) for any ducks that might come in to roost. To our delight, we hadn’t been waiting long when they began to come in. They came in groups of 6 or 8 up to groups of 30 to 40. Whistling and squealing, they flew in barely above the treeline and descended into the dark water just beyond our view. We counted over 500 ducks that night. This was an early sign that duck hunting might be good this year. (Below I am including a photo from one of my husband’s 2010 hunts here on the farm.)
My husband and his cronies have been duck hunting a couple of times since that afternoon but they have been disappointed with the number of ducks so far. Since it hasn’t really been very cold yet (at least not for long at the time), we don’t have as many migrating ducks stopping in to feed here on the farm as usual. With less than two weeks left in the hunting season, he is hopeful that the colder weather north of us will encourage the annual migration to move south and pass through our area before the season ends. As luck would have it, I still have several packs of duck breasts from last year in the freezer, so fortunately, we don’t have to wait for the prevailing winds to bring our supper in. One of the nicest benefits of “living close to the land” is being able to open the freezer and create meals that are made from the fruits and vegetables from our garden and the game from the farm. Besides providing us with interesting home-grown 
food, it also saves us lots of grocery money.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently tried a new recipe for duck stew (Original recipe from Ducks Unlimited Magazine, January/February 2012). As usual I tweaked the recipe a little to achieve something that I thought would fit our taste. Yesterday I cooked my third pot of this warm, savory blend and I think that I have a tasty recipe that is a keeper. Best of all, this one is fairly easy to put together without a lot of prep~ (I didn’t even have to cut up onions because I used a jar of little pearl onions), and I think it yields a rich, satisfying result. Tonight we shared this third batch with some of our closest family friends who are also a hunting/gardening family. After a nice glass of wine by the fire, we dished up the stew and sat down around their table to eat and visit. They agreed that this was a good combination and that it was the perfect meal for a cool winter night like this one. Of all the game recipes I have collected over the years, this one is my new favorite. Now that it has been officially taste-tested, I wanted to share it with those of you that might like to give it a try as well.
Savory Wild Duck Stew
3 T. vegetable or olive oil
5-6 cups of skinless duck (and/or goose) breast, cut into ½ inch pieces
3 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. garlic powder
½ t. black pepper
8 cups beef broth (or part water)
5.5 oz. V-8 vegetable juice
14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes (I like to use the ones with green chilies)
½ cup pearled barley
2 cups celery, roughly chopped
2 cups carrots, roughly chopped
6-8 whole peeled garlic cloves, or equivalent amount of minced garlic
3 T. tomato paste
14.5 oz. can of French style green beans
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed (or one small can)
1 jar of whole pearl onions with the juice
Salt and pepper to taste
In a small bowl, combine first 5 ingredients and toss well to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.
Heat a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add meat and marinade, and brown meat evenly. Add stock, V-8 juice and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then, reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 1½ hours. Add barley, celery, carrots, (green peas if using frozen peas), and garlic cloves and simmer for an additional 25 minutes.
Stir in tomato paste, add green beans (and canned green peas if using canned peas) and onions, and cook for 25 minutes. Add salt and additional pepper to taste.
We found this stew to be very satisfying. It makes a rich, thick sauce and is full of vegetables (tomatoes, carrots, celery, onions, green beans and green peas) as well as barley and garlic. Besides the duck fat (which is considered a delicacy), the only other fat is vegetable or olive oil. It really is a healthy one pot meal. Would love to hear your thoughts on this or other ways you use duck or waterfowl in your cooking. If you try this one, hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Carolina Carol
CLOSE TO THE LAND 