COLD!
Posted By Joel on January 10, 2010
Near record cold temps this week/weekend left little for the outdoor enthusiast to pursue around north Texas. Sure, you could brave the windchill and break ice to swing a nymph or two up at the Blue or Mountain Fork (which some friends did with little success) or even get up at the crack of dawn and go duck hunting like I did. Not a wise decision.
We put on three or four more layers of clothing than usual and still could not get warm in the 2 degree wind chill. When we arrived at our little duck pond by head lamp we discovered something interesting and totally unexpected – the pond was completely frozen over. This is a unique sight to a Texas boy and at 6:30 am through a head lamp beam, groggy head and frozen eyelashes, gives one a moment of pause.
“Well, shit. Where are we going to put the decoys?”
(we decided to break the ice in the lee of the pond and put just four dekes in the open water – it actually worked!)
The two gadwalls I shot that morning did not quite make up for the frozen toes but will be the guests of honor at a great dinner in a day or two.
The thermometer in my study now reads 45 on this sunny Sunday afternoon so I’m about to pull all of the tying gear out on the front porch and be a heliotroph for an hour or so. Think warm thoughts, people. The earth is tilting as we know it and it will be Spring here in north Texas sooner than you think!
Duck Medallions with Red Currant Glaze
(this is how I prepare “good” ducks – mallards, gaddies, widgeon, teal and the alike. Check back later for recipes for “crap” ducks like scaup)
2 ducks “breasted out” with skin (FAT!) left intact over the breast
2 cloves garlic
2 cups red wine
tsp. red pepper flakes
tsp. salt
fresh rosemary
black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
sea salt
cracked black pepper
4 tbsp. red currant preserves
olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped green onion
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1) Place ducks in a marinade made from the first 7 ingredients. Marinate for at least 4 hours (over night is better)
2) Remove and dry ducks. Discard marinade
3) Rub duck with olive oil and season with dashes of sea salt and a little cracked pepper.
4) Grill for 4-6 minutes on each breast side (until the skin just starts to sear) and then 6-10 min. on the back to cook through. This varies with the size of the duck. When done, cover with loose foil and move to a warm oven.
5) While duck is grilling, saute green onion in a couple of table spoons of olive oil in a med. sauce pan to caramelized (you could add a seeded serrano pepper for heat if wanted).
6) Deglaze pan with balsamic vinegar and allow to reduce by half. Season with salt and pepper.
7) Add preserves and which until blended and reduce heat.
Carve 1″ thick medallions off the duck breast and arrange on plate. Drizzle red currant sauce over the meat.
9) Serve with a warm spinach, walnut and gorgonzola salad, mashed sweet potato, and a GOOD Argentinian Malbec.
Oh yeah. Sounds tasty to me. Going hunting in the morning – actually shooting hunting, photographing hunting … you know what I mean.