Session #5 Dinner and Prep Work

Session #5 Dinner and Prep Work

So as the season draws closer it feels as if I was driving on a highway to season start but I am driving in western Kansas.  Driving plenty fast but not fast enough to get through the lull in the drive.  So to pass the time I thought I would cook something up for dinner.  Cooking is one of my other hobbies, for those that do not know me that well.

So I look in the freezer for some protein to cook, what do I find.  Duck breasts from last season.  I started looking and I thought to myself, dang I need to start eating this duck before the season starts and I bring home more meat.  Luckily my goose was gone super fast with Sarah loving goose.  She ate the goose as fast as I could stack them on the ground.  

So I pulled some breasts out to cook and thawed them out.  Now I was thinking how do I want to cook them.  I have tried some other ways that did not turn out well at all.  So the two ideas I thought of was breading strips with "Andy's fish batter" or marinating and wrapping with bacon.  Bacon I am thinking of but I wanted to grill it and I am to broke to buy the grill I want, working on saving the money up.  So I try to think of how I can cook the bacon to crisp and not over cook the breast.  So as I think about that dilema I think of sides.  So a thought comes to mind, duck is a classy fancy piece of meat.  What is classier and fancier than mushroom risotto and asparagus.  Asparagus needs some love then and I will have bacon so what better love then BACON love.  That is right take a healthy veggie and wrap it in BACON.  Well I figured out how to crisp up my bacon and not over cook it and the breast.  I dug out my cast iron dutch oven for the asparagus since I have a tiny stove top with three small electric rings and only one big ring.  For the duck I grab my large cast iron pan.

So I marinated the duck breast for about four hours in soy sauce, two cloves or garlic, a quarter of a red onion, and fresh ground pepper.  I wrapped the duck and the asparagus in bacon and started the risotto with onions and garlic.

So now that the asparagus bacon is crispy I put the dutch oven in the oven to finish off the asparagus without crisping the bacon to much.  I focus on the risotto since it seems that a lot of people think it is very hard to make.  I cooked up the rice with a large box of chicken stock and one can of beef stock, to me it gives the best flavor to the rice.  

So the breasts are finally cooked, everything is plated and served.  Now the tough critique from Sarah.

So as we sat down to eat, I began to taste and sample everything.  I finally look up and see Sarah had completely eaten the duck breast half bacon and all.  I asked her if it was good.  Sarah with her mouth full mumbled it is amazing.  I finally tasted the duck and realized she was right.  The whole meal was restaurant quality and definitely a $17 meal.  The risotto was cooked perfectly, creamy and a hint of Marsala wine.  The only down side to the meal was the asparagus was more fiberous than expected.  I had already cut three to four inches off the bottom of the spears trying to prevent that.  

So now that dinner was done all I can think of  was, "Is it duck season yet."  So to take my mind off of it, I think hey I need to Armorall my decoys still.  This is the first time I have ever done this to them.  Some of my decoys are four seasons old and have spent a the off seasons outside in the weather since I lived in an apartment.  The decoys were looking oxidized and not as vibrant as they should be.  So I after Amoralling the decoys they looked amazing.  I found one decoy that rattled,  I was not the one who put a pellet of shot in it or at least I hoped I was not.  Found another that had water in it.  The factory hole in the tail feathers had come loose.  Guess that hen was shaking her tail feathers to much.  So I shook most of the water out and let her hang so I would remember to glue the hole shut.  I went to get more carabiners since I run my decoys on Mojo texas rigs.  I had run a dozen on a carabiner but decided to try a half dozen this year and see how that goes for ease of unloading and loading decoys in the bags.

So now that I had done some preseason prep work and eating some delicious duck.  I sat back and felt relieved that some of the pressure and anxiety released, at least till next week.  

Stay safe and comment on this post with what prep work you do to get ready for the waterfowl season.