Teal with Orange Sauce
Jenny and Rick Wheatley
Teal are among the best-tasting of wild waterfowl. The meat is rosy pink and succulent when cooked to medium, and it lacks the strong flavor that is more apparent in other migratory game birds. If I had to choose one species to introduce a wild game newbie to the taste of waterfowl, it would be teal. These birds have just the right amount of gaminess without being overpowering.
Duck a l'orange is a classic French dish, usually prepared with much larger domestic birds. We've adapted this recipe to teal, which are several times smaller and therefore take a lot less time to cook. However, this recipe does require some elbow grease - making the sauce is the most time-consuming part. If you'd still like to try this recipe but hesitate to dedicate that much effort, follow the steps to cook the bird exactly but instead of making the sauce from scratch, do the following: Deglaze the pan with port, and then simmer quality chicken stock and enough orange marmalade to thicken. Season to taste and voila.
Duck a l'orange is a classic French dish, usually prepared with much larger domestic birds. We've adapted this recipe to teal, which are several times smaller and therefore take a lot less time to cook. However, this recipe does require some elbow grease - making the sauce is the most time-consuming part. If you'd still like to try this recipe but hesitate to dedicate that much effort, follow the steps to cook the bird exactly but instead of making the sauce from scratch, do the following: Deglaze the pan with port, and then simmer quality chicken stock and enough orange marmalade to thicken. Season to taste and voila.
About the Author : Jenny and Rick Wheatley
Visit authors website | View more articlesJenny and Rick Wheatley both grew up in Southern California and connected over a shared love of the outdoors. They started their wild game cooking blog Food for Hunters in 2011, where they share recipes, photos and thoughts on wild food. Today, Jenny and Rick continue to hunt, fish, forage and cook in the Cornhusker State of Nebraska. Their recipes have appeared in numerous publications, including Petersens Hunting, Game and Fish, Nebraskaland and North American Whitetail magazines.
The Nebraska Center for the Book awarded their book Hunting for Food: Guide to Harvesting, Field Dressing and Cooking Wild Game the Wildlife Honor Award in 2016.
