Inside-Out, Brown Sugar-Glazed Jalapeno Duck Poppers

Per my previous post Brining Wild Duck, I essentially said that the taste of wild duck usually has me running for the hills. But I was determined to like it. Waterfowl is a huge part of the hunting world, and it was a real shame that I did not care for it. So this week, I set out to find a way to get rid of the gamey taste of duck. I brined the duck breasts for three days, and my efforts were paid ten times over!

What we have here are duck breasts which have been brined for 3 days, then marinated in olive oil, rosemary, garlic and red wine vinegar. They were then filled with cream cheese and julienned jalapeno peppers, then wrapped in bacon and glazed with brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon, which caramelized beautifully over hot coals.

Joe and I absolutely loved these! They were spicy, salty and sweet all at the same time. They certainly didn't last long. We hope you all love them too!

Servings: 2 appetizer servings (10 poppers)

Prep Time: 1-3 days, depending on how long you want to brine

Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients:

- 2 brined duck breasts, cut into 10 pieces (brining is optional)

- 5 slices of bacon, cut into halves

- cream cheese

- 1 jalapeno, cored/seeded and julienned

- 10 toothpicks

Marinade:

- 2 tbs. olive oil

- 2 tbs. red wine vinegar

- 1 garlic clove, minced

- 1/2 tsp. dried crushed rosemary

- freshly ground pepper, to taste

Brown Sugar Glaze:

- 3 tbs. brown sugar

- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

- 1 1/2 tbs. water

We brined the duck, but this is totally optional. To view instructions on how to brine, please click here.

1. Butterfly the breast pieces. The bright red color reminded us of sushi tuna.

To butterfly, cut the duck breasts horizontally, but not all the way through. Lay flat. You now have thinner, larger pieces.

2. Lay the butterflied duck pieces flat between two pieces of plastic wrap. Then lightly pound with a flat mallet to flatten the pieces a little more. We used the poor man's rolling pin. Move the duck to a medium bowl.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, minced garlic, rosemary and freshly ground pepper.

4. Add the marinade to the duck. Marinade at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.

5. To make the glaze, combine brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Then add water and whisk well.

Taking notes as we go ... all a part of the recipe developing process!

At this point, you should probably get your grill ready.

6. Remove the duck from the marinade and fill with cream cheese and jalapeno match sticks.

Then roll everything together with half a slice of bacon. Pierce a toothpick through the poppers to keep everything intact for grilling.

7. Grill (in our case broil) the poppers until the bacon is cooked on both sides. When they're just about done, baste both sides with the Brown Sugar Glaze. Don't do this beforehand because the glaze will just burn.

Remove toothpicks and serve!

Great at the duck blind warmed up!

 

Brining Wild Duck and Other Waterfowl

I often complain about wild duck. Joe likes it fine, but to me, it's bloody and gamey and makes my nose curl whenever I eat it. I guess it's to each his own, but I was very determined to like it-- some way, somehow. If prepared correctly, I think anything can taste good.

Wild duck is extremely dark, as you can see in the photo to your right. The color is almost purple or blue and this is due to the fact that ducks are very bloody. To get rid of the "gamey" taste, you have to try to leech out as much blood as you can. In the photo above, the duck has been brined for 3 days, leaving a very light exterior and a beautiful ruby red color inside. We've tried brining before, but it made the duck really salty. So this time around, we used a combination of a light salty brine and just cold water. We also extended the brining time, because it does takes more than a day to get all that blood out. When it came around time to cook, Joe said, "Wild duck-- the other white meat!" The meat no longer smelled and tasted "gamey." You don't have to brine for 3 whole days, like we did. I think 2 days will do just fine. It also depends on your own taste.

Ingredients: Should be enough brine for the breasts of 2 ducks

- 4 cups of water

- 1/4 cup kosher salt

- 1/4 cup brown sugar

1. In a saucepan, bring water to a boil. Then add kosher salt and brown sugar. Mix until dissolved. Turn off heat and allow brine to cool.

Our duck breasts were cut up into big chunks. You can do the same or keep them whole.

2. Move the breasts to a nonreactive bowl.

3. Submerge the duck breasts with cooled brine, covering completely. It is important that you let the brine cool completely. Adding hot/warm brine will ruin your meat and encourage bacterial growth.
Cover and store in the refrigerator. Brine overnight and replace the bloody brine with ice water the next day.

3. Submerge the duck breasts with cooled brine, covering completely. It is important that you let the brine cool completely. Adding hot/warm brine will ruin your meat and encourage bacterial growth.
Cover and store in the refrigerator. Brine overnight and replace the bloody brine with ice water the next day.