Pan-Seared Duck with Quick Corn Relish
In many parts of the country, like my own backyard in Northern California, some duck hunters have a problem with shooting gadwall. “Oh, man…all we saw were gaddies today. Hopefully, we’ll get some good ducks next time.” One of the guys I hunt with maintained for years that our Northern California gadwalls head over to Nevada and pig out on snails, giving their meat a distinctive snail-like flavor. Hey, who hasn’t heard about what a Nevada snail will do to a perfectly good duck? I believe what he said was, “I wouldn’t feed a gadwall to my dog.” So, I finally told him to put up or shut up. I brought along a portable burner, a pan, some oil, salt, pepper and a little sauce. I cooked a gadwall breast and a mallard breast – seasoned, rubbed, seared and sauced. Guess what? John picked out the gadwall as the mallard. Now, it could have gone either way because the finished product is really close. I just got lucky. It did take him a few tastes to choose the winner. The point is…finally…that those gadwalls you’ve been less than thrilled with might just surprise you. Give ‘em another try.
Pan-Seared Duck with Quick Corn Relish
Ingredients
- 4 large duck breasts
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- ½ cup chicken broth
Quick Corn Relish
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups fresh or frozen uncooked corn kernels
- ¼ cup onion finely diced
- 1/3 cup bell pepper any color, finely diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper seeded and minced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cider vinegar
- ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
- pinch black pepper
Instructions
- Rub duck breasts with olive oil, salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown breasts on one side, flip over and cook for 2 minutes more. Add chicken broth to pan and cook until breasts are medium-rare, about 130 degrees at the center. Allow to rest for a few minutes, slice diagonally and top with warm corn relish.
Quick Corn Relish Instructions
- Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn and next 4 ingredients. Cook for 4 – 5 minutes, then sprinkle sugar over and stir. Cook for 2 minutes more. Add vinegar, salt and pepper and cook for 2 – 3 minutes.