A friend of mine gave me a wild duck he had killed. I was excited to cook it, though nervous due to my very first wild duck cooking disaster. After taking a week or so to decide how best to use this duckie, I decided to make him into a stew. I have been wanting to cook turnips since I had some a while back at The Scottish Arms (where they are called "Neeps" which makes me giggle). So I looked around the net for something with duck and turnips...and found this recipe. Perfect!
Here is Mr. Duckie during prep. Watch out for ammo!!
I added bacon to the original recipe, mainly so I could show off a wonderful christmas present from my friends Kelly & Ron...A piggy-shaped bacon press!!! Don't you love it!?!?!
Wild Duck Stew with Turnips and Apples
1 wild duck
4 strips of bacon
6 cups water (or enough to mostly cover your duck in the pot)
2 cups chicken stock, if needed
2 medium onions
1/2 head of garlic
4 medium turnips
3 granny smith apples
4 carrots
About 2 teaspoons ground coriander
About 1 Tablespoon dried roasemary, chopped fine
Salt & Pepper to taste
All purpose flour to thicken, if desired
Chopped fresh cilantro for serving Cook the bacon, remove from pan, break into small pieces and set aside. Start the water over med-high heat in a large pot. Brown the duck on all sides in the bacon grease. Place the browned duck in the simmering water. Pour a bit of the hot water from the pot into the skillet and scrape the pan with a spatula, getting all the flavorful juices and brown bits from the pan. Pour them into the pot. Lower the heat and set the pot to simmer for an hour and a half or more. Remove Duck and set aside to cool. Once it's cool enough to handle pick off all the meat you can and set aside to add back into the stew later.
Add the onion, carrots, coriander, rosemary and garlic, and, if needed, add some chicken stock. Let simmer another 1/2 hour or until the onion is soft. Meanwhile peel and chop the turnips and apples into chunks. Sauté the turnips in some butter in a skillet until browned and just tender. Do the same with the apples. Add the turnips, apples, duck meat and bacon to the pot. If you want to make the stew thicker, make a slurry with flour and COLD water and add this to the pot, bringing the stew to a boil briefly. Let simmer another 5 or ten minutes then serve, garnishing with fresh cilantro.
I was hesitant about the apples at first, but I am glad I added them. However, I wish I would have cut them into smaller pieces. Other than that this stew was great! I loved the hearty flavor of the duck, and the oh-so-rich stock it made. The turnips and apples added a nice sweetness. A fantastic winter meal! Although my fur-cousin Henry expressed disappointment in my use of his kin...
4 comments:
How daring!
you have friends shooting ducks for you? awesome!
when I was in Edinburgh, my mum's cousin told me that her favourite way to eat haggis was with "neeps and tatties", like this: http://tinyurl.com/9yce57
Neeps is short for turnips but what is described as a turnip in Scotland and much of the North of England is what the rest of the country calls Swedes (I think Americans call them Rutabagas).
So which is used in this recipe? The picture looks like turnip but saying that it was inspired by eating neeps implies it should be swede.
really yummy and hearty, thanks for your recipie. i will continue to use it . my husband is french and he loved it..thats gotta be a good sign! thanks again, zoe (biarritz france).
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