Tealard

Tealard is what I’m calling it. Had a mallard and 2 bluewing teal from this past weekend to cook up. I had 2 nicely cleaned birds and the other breasted out from being a little to shot up, and I wanted to try something new. I ended up making a turdunken duck style. I seasoned the teal breast and stuffed them in the whole teal. I then seasoned that teal and stuffed it in the mallard. I poured worshester sauce in all the cavities and seasoned the outside of the mallard with olive oil, garlic and ginger. Baked it breast side up for 1 hour and 20min at 375 degrees. I also added a quartered up apple on the bottom so it wouldn’t roll around. Came out near perfect for my first tealard.

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Finished product before devouring it. Next time I might put in under the broiler for 5 minutes to get the outside nice and crispy.

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I’ve never breasted a bird with skin on. I know, call me crazy. Is there a reason you do that when breasting? Seems like a ton more work than skinning the breast.

Looks delicious!

Interesting!! I hate the taste of duck, but love hunting them. That actually looks really good.

Honestly I also rarely take the time to pluck the whole bird or even keep the fat on. If I’m only cleaning a couple birds I think it well worth it. You can do a lot with a whole duck. Best duck I’ve had was plucked like in the above picture then it was patted dry seasoned and the deep fried at 350 degrees for 15 min for a large duck. The fat adds tons of flavor. It’s the main reason why duck poppers or duck/goose wrapped in bacon is so popular, because it adds fat. Breasting out a duck and keeping the fat on I say takes an extra minute maybe two minutes. Only defeather where the breast is down to the wing. I take a torch and quickly pass it over the fat to singe the tiny hairs and soft feathers left. The fat will tighten up before your eyes, and then breast it out like normal. Real important to get the feathers off prior to debreasting or you will give up, trust me. If you are into pan frying the duck breasts you can make it look fancy by scaring the fat (basically just making 3 to 4 long cuts into the fat, but not going all the way through to the meat). Then pan fry fat down in skillet, of course adding whatever seasoning you want. I take great satisfaction in preparing wild game for people who are afraid of trying it or people who say they dislike it because it’s gamey.