Braised Wild Duck Breasts in a Spiced Wine Sauce
Submitted by nene
Wild duck breasts draped in bacon and braised in spiced wine with mushrooms, onions, and herbs. Warm cinnamon, cardamom, and clove notes make this a hunter’s table showpiece.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
40 minWild duck can be lean and stubborn if you treat it wrong, but give it a slow braise in spiced wine and it turns into something magnificent.
The breasts are wrapped in bacon (because everything good starts with bacon), then nestled into a casserole with mushrooms, onions, garlic, and a fragrant pour of glogg, a Scandinavian spiced wine laced with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and anise.
The initial blast of high heat sears the bacon crisp, then a slow, gentle braise coaxes the tough wild game into fork-tender submission.
Here’s the insider move: make this a day ahead. Let the breasts cool in their braising liquid overnight, and the flavors deepen into something truly extraordinary when reheated.
Pro Tips
- No glogg on hand? Steep a pinch each of orange peel, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and anise in red wine for 30 minutes. Strain and you’ve got a solid stand-in.
- Wild duck is much leaner than farmed. The bacon isn’t just flavor, it’s insurance against dry meat. Don’t skip it.
- Cook this the day before you plan to serve it. The overnight rest in braising liquid transforms good into unforgettable.
- For a polished presentation, bone the cooled breasts, thicken the stock, and serve the medallions on buttered toast with the glossy gravy spooned over top.
Ingredients
Directions
- A spiced wine, which see, or sub red wine that has had a pinch each orange peel, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and anise steeped in it.
Pre-heat oven to 400.
Place the skinned breasts in a casserole.
Lay 2 half strips of bacon over each breast.
Sprinkle the seasonings over the birds and then the onions and mushrooms.
Pour the mushroom juice, wine and a little stock over all and cover the casserole.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 300 and bake for a further 55 minutes.
This dish tastes even better if it is allowed to cool slowly with the breasts marinading in the stock and re-heated the next day for serving.
Alternatively the cold cooked breasts can be boned; the stock thickened with cornstarch or flour and the breast medallions heated briefly in the simmering gravy and served on toast.
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