Kathleen gave this recipe out on Radio Live this morning and I thought it sounded good.

Wild Duck Pate
1-2 wild ducks
Place in a pressure cooker with a little water and cook for 1 hour.

Melt 50g in a frying pan and gently cook 3 finely chopped onions and 3 cloves chopped garlic . Place in a food processor with 200g softened butter, duck flesh, juice and grated rind of 2 oranges, salt, pepper, thyme and 1 tablespoon cointreau. Process until almost smooth.
Spoon into dishes and smooth the surface. Refrigerate to set.

Wow Thats a pretty easy recipe Helen Thanks, I Better Go Get Some Duck For Dinner Tonight!

first catch your duck!

Four legs good, two legs bad. George Orwell

actually - can you buy wild duck? (I know you can't buy trout - is it the same?)

Four legs good, two legs bad. George Orwell

No you can't, Lynley. And they are a mixed blessing. Scrawny and badly plucked. Some refusing to get tender however long and carefully they are cooked. Then there's tooth breaking experiences with hidden shot. Who wants it?

But, but it's all about the random wild flavour - and foraging Stephanie!!..nothing tastes quite so good as free food!!...I used to feel the same about trout when I grew up in Taupo....when the slabs were running downstream....ew

Four legs good, two legs bad. George Orwell

Oh dear, don't shoot us, but we gobble them up and enjoy them!! We will especially miss our supply when the neighbour retires from duck shooting! And I'm getting a nice little supply of duck fat in my duckfatstoragepot in the freezer.
Regards,
Dawn.

I wouldn't 'shoot' you, Lynley or Dawn. Wild food, foraging, hunting and gathering and free food - I'm for all those, but I am less keen on rum drinking idiots with shot guns................?

Foolish behaviour alright - paid the ultimate price too - I'll never forget microwaving a duck in Timaru many moons ago - it was like a shoot out at the OK Corral - so much shot still in the duck - we ruined the microwave!

Four legs good, two legs bad. George Orwell

I know you wouldn't shoot us Stephanie! We probably don't taste as nice as duck does anyway! You are right though, grog and duck shooting do not go together. Lynley, I've heard about shot going crazy in a microwave so I've never been brave enough to try cooking duck in it, but I have reheated left over duck with success.
Regards,
Dawn.

Those types are few and far between, Stephanie.
Fish and Game do a lot of promotional work about safety before the season even opens.

Cheers,

Beverley

Does anyone hang their ducks for a few days before dressing them for cooking? That's a no-no for me - can't imagine green duck so high it's about ready to take flight again! I wonder if that was something done in the past and now no longer practised. Something to do with the tenderness of the duck I think and maybe the gamey flavour? Perhaps ducks these days have a much better and variety of feed hence their fat and fall off the bone cooking. I know they frequent commercial maize crops to have a jolly good feed, and they love grazing on fresh pastures on the farm!
Regards,
Dawn.

I think that was more of an English custom with Pheasants.

The ducks here are shot, plucked, cleaned and straight into the deep freeze.

Cheers,

Beverley

You are probably correct Beverley. I do remember as a child here in NZ my uncle and cousins hanging ducks. Maybe they were just showing off their haul?
Regards,
Dawn.

lol, Dawn, bragging rights !

Beverley

Will have to try this recipe.

FYI Yes many people hang there ducks for up to a week. Its for the same reasons you age any red meat.