Food Fight Friday: Mallard Breast vs. Bacon-Wrapped Goose

If you’ve been hunting waterfowl and are running out of ideas for what to do with all those ducks and geese, this week’s Food Fight should inspire you. Readers Steve Caudill and John Rosasco are going head to head in a battle of ducks versus geese. I predict the bacon will put the goose over the top, but the real winners here are the rest of us who now have two new recipes to add to our waterfowl arsenal.

Steve Caudill’s Mallard Breast with Pear

I thought I would send in a pic of one of my latest creations. I have always wanted to send one in, but never thought it was good enough. This is one is pretty awesome though. This meal is two mallard breasts with a pear butter sauce over it. On the side is scalloped sweet potatoes grown at home. The duck was cooked by taking butter and cooking down the diced pears, then removing the pears and leaving the butter with the sugar from the pears. Then I added two more dabs of butter and cooked the breasts for about 1 minute per side to a perfect medium rare. Then let the breasts rest and covered them with the pear-butter combo. The sweet potatoes are scalloped and cooked in the oven with butter and brown sugar. Now this is winter comfort food.

John Rosasco’s Bacon-Wrapped Goose Breast

Goose breasts are inherently dry, typically resulting in a lackluster eating experience. I add moisture to my goose breast by marinating them in a simple brine of a cup of water and a pinch of salt, sugar, black pepper, garlic powder, sage, and rosemary prior to cooking. Combine all ingredients into the water mix and cover the goose breasts. Allow the meat to marinate for 24 to 48 hours. Remove the breast from the brine and dry off excess water. Build a sheet of bacon (the width of the goose breast) by layering the bacon lengthwise, overlapping the edges slightly. Place the goose breast at the top of the bacon sheet and roll until the breast is completed wrapped. Trim off the excess. I prefer using a jerky rack on top of a baking sheet. This allows the bacon grease to drain off. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, turn the breast over, and continue baking for 10 to 15 additional minutes or until the internal temperature hits 160 to 165 degrees. Remove from the oven and wrap the breasts in foil, allow to rest 5 to 10 minutes. The goose breast will continue to cook slightly while resting. Slice and serve.

Got a killer recipe for ducks, geese, or any wild fish or game? Send it in with a photo to fswildchef@gmail.com and we’ll feature it here.