Smoked Wild Duck w/ a Port reduction

[Dave Sikorski]

Santa brought me a new smoker so I've hit the ground running.

My first batch of duck I made today had a rub that I've used in the past and a overpowering dose of alder smoke. It didn't go as planned, but was good enough for a snack at lunch time.

I rarely follow recipes, but rather read a bunch and try and figure out the main techniques that should be used, and flavors that go well together.

I decided to make a brine for my second batch of Mallard breasts.

I started with

-1/4C of sea salt
-1T of coarse black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
-2C of water
-1C apple cider vinegar
-1C cranberry juice
-1 crushed garlic clove.

I let the breasts marinate in the fridge for about 3.5-4hours.

The smoker is a bradley and looks like a dorm room fridge. It has a smoke generator that takes wood chip "pucks" and makes controlling the amount of smoke pretty darn easy.

I got the heat up to about 180F and started the apple wood smoke. The breasts were dried off and allowed to warm a little bit before smoking.

I kept the smoke rolling for about 30 min, and finished the breasts without smoke. The overall cooking time was about 1:30.

When I took a friend and his nephew hunting a few weeks back he gave me a bottle of Blackberry Port he made. I decided to put a few cups in a saucepan with a crushed clove of garlic, some fresh black pepper, and a spoonful of blackberry jelly. I reduced the mixture over med low heat for about 30 min and ended up with nice sauce.

Once the duck breasts made it to 125 degrees I brought them in and seared them in a hot pan to crisp up outside.

After coming off the stove top I let them sit for about 10 min and sliced the breasts and drizzled the sauce over them.

They ended up with a light smoke flavor, and were smack your momma good.

I have some salmon in a brine right now, and a deer loin that will be headed to the smoker tomorrow.

Stay tuned....

-D

[DoveHunt]

Yum...yum... Yum. Time to get some more
To try this on the BGE. Last weekends bag is going to a gumbo for this weekends snacktime between hunts.

[Kahi]

That looks good. Searing the skin after smoking was a great idea...and I dig that you added the blackberry jam to the port...solid work my man...keep 'em coming...Kahi

[Bird Dog]

looks great