Modern Wild Man ~A Brand New Year - Mallard Bacon Hors d'oeuvres~

Modern Wild Man

Happy New Year from the Modern Wild Man!  Every year when Christmas is over, we sleep through long nights and remember longer days with warming rays of sunshine.  Some folks are at home painting jig heads, or tying flies waiting for their favorite water hole to warm.  Still others are planning spring turkey hunts or family camping trips.  For me, I love this time of year.  This is my time of year.  Cold days, and colder nights.  So many hunting seasons are open, and the woods and field are a joy to be in right now.

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So for 2017 here is one of my favorite hors d'oeuvre recipes, Mallard and Bacon Wraps.  I fixed these for a family New Year's gathering this evening, and everyone enjoyed them.  Happy New Year!

Ingredients:

Breast fillets of three mallard ducks, cleaned, washed and cut longways into 1/2" strips.

1/3 cup Teriyaki Sauce

1/3 cup light sodium Soy Sauce

2t Dry Steak Seasoning

1/2t Liquid Smoke

1/2 lb Thick Cut Bacon

8 oz can Whole Water Chestnuts

Wooden Toothpicks


Begin by combining the Teriyaki, Soy Sauce, Liquid Smoke and Steak Seasoning into a zip top bag.  Mix the marinade well, and add the strips of duck breast to the zip top bag.  Stash the bag in a shallow pan (in case of leaks) in your fridge for at least four hours, six is better.

Open and drain the can of whole water chestnuts.  Pour the chestnuts out onto a cutting board and cut them all in half with a sharp knife.  This should be enough water chestnuts for one to each piece of duck meat.  Cut the bacon strips in half, and you are almost ready to wrap.

You should now have half strips of bacon, half water chestnuts, and marinated strips of duck breast meat.

Now it's time to assemble.  Push a wooden toothpick through one end of a duck strip.  Now push the toothpick through the water chestnut half.  Give the toothpick some gentle twisting as you go to try and avoid splitting the water chestnut.  On the other side of the toothpick, wrap the duck meat around and onto the toothpick again.  Now wrap the whole thing with a piece of bacon.  You now have one Mallard and Bacon Wrap.

Keep at this process until all the ingredients are used up.  You should wind up with enough to serve hors d'oeuvres for 6 to 8 adults.  Place the wraps on a clean cookie sheet, I line mine with parchment.  Lay them out evenly spaced and not touching.  When everything is put together and all the ingredients are wrapped up, place the cookie sheet into a 400 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes.  Remember, duck is a red meat, and overcooking will only dry it out.  When they are done, I like to rest them on a paper towel for a minute to help take up some of the excess grease from the bacon.

Here is a pan ready to go into the oven-

These are great for a family get together, card party, holiday gathering, or just an evening at home.

So to all the Modern Wild Man readers and sportsmen; here's to a safe, successful, and prosperous 2017, go someplace Wild!

Modern Wild Man ~The Duck Addiction~

Modern Wild Man

I have come to terms with my addiction.  I admit it, there is no other explanation.  I find myself waking up in the early dark hours of the morning thinking of only one thing.  I cherish enduring cold, wet, mud and ice for a single chance of an encounter.  It's easy for an outsider looking in to tell that I'm addicted to duck hunting.

Let's be honest, it takes a certain kind of addiction or crazy to want to crawl out of a warm bed at three o'clock in the morning to put on cold waders destined to leak.  Then wade out into muddy black water to set out plastic decoys that are in an inevitable tangled mess.  Your fingers get cold, and the end of your nose gets numb.  At some point you, or a hunting partner may even have to make a trek in waders to the boat, to move the truck, or pack in decoys, a trek that gets you all sweaty just to make sure you are miserably cold later.

All the decoys are out, your shotgun, shells and calls are in order, and then it happens.  A flight of fast moving mallards cruises over in the dawn darkness.  You hear the whistle of their wings cutting the air.  Your eyes snap to the skyline, and you can't help but smile.  You see, duck hunting is a sort of gateway to so much more.  Duck hunting isn't so much about hunting ducks as much as it is about being on the water and in the wild.  As the sun peeks over the eastern horizon, a muskrat swims across the marsh.  Quail begin to whistle their song across the pond from you, and you may even hear a flock of ghost like turkeys fly off their roost.The wild space around the water is unique.  So much life revolves around the water.  The magic moments of sunup and sundown on the water in wild places is its own kind of magic.

The first rays of the morning sun stretch across the top of the water from the east and dances between your decoys.  A group of dabbling ducks makes a pass.  Quickly you hold a call to your lips and push air through a tube and reed in hopes to get the attention of a bird flying forty miles per hour, and it works!  The birds cornerback and make another pass.  Your eyes, are locked on the birds as you reach for your shotgun, careful to remain concealed.  One more time they swing out wide, moving into the wind, and cup their wings.  Using the wind in their face as a brake, their feet come down and they seem to drop out of the sky ready to land in your decoy spread.  With wings opened up, and their flight slowed down a hunter must carefully pick out one bird, shoulder, shoot and follow through.  You've only got three shots at a time, so make it count.  The action is quick, if you're lucky you drop a bird or two, and if you're even luckier you've got a good dog to retrieve them for you from the water. A day spent in a duck blind, a duck boat, or a ground blind with friends or family is a great day.  Mix in some birds, a little shooting, and a good dog or two and you have the makings for lasting friendships, memories and stories for years to come.

The winter duck migration is an amazing event.  Birds weighing no more than 3 or 4 pounds battle their way through snow, ice, and wind on their way south.  Along with the birds comes hunters, fathers and sons, endless thermoses of coffee, and labradors with their eyes locked to the skyline.  The ducks bring a whole scale of economy with them.  Hunters buy licenses and stamps, both state and federal.  Decoys, camouflage, steel shotshells, new shotguns, waders, hotel rooms, breakfasts and lunches, and on and on, the ducks bring with them much more that duck hunting.  Duck hunting is a culture, a lifestyle, and a lot of fun.

We don't have much season left this year.  In some parts of the county it's already over.  But for now, I think I will stay up late fixing decoys and waders so I can get up early to go duck hunting!

See Ya Out There!

 

Modern Wild Man ~ Spoils of the Hunt ~

~ Modern Wild Man ~

Last Friday I posted about some of the things an upland quail hunt is, at least to me.  Experiences in the outdoors: be it with rod and reel, shotgun or rifle, or simply a walk in the woods are for many a way of life.  We live for seasons, family events and trips are often planned around game hunting or fishing seasons.  This lifestyle brings us closer to the earth, into what is real, and tests us.  After a cold day with a cold wind stinging your face afield, and numb fingers are thawn out next to a glowing fireplace, I can think of few better things than a warm bowl of soup.

Many times I think sportsmen struggle to fit their wild fish and game into their family meals.  This is a shame.  Some of the purest flavors, and seasonal dishes we look forward to, can be wild game.  After more than 20 years afield pursuing all types of large and small game, I have put together a number of recipes that I think are worth sharing.

On the winter solstice I decided to share with my family the treasured quail I had harvested on an earlier hunt.  A hot bowl of Roasted Quail and Rice Soup for the longest night of the year.  I hope your family can enjoy this dish with any kind of upland game bird.


Roasted Quail and Wild Rice:

Ingredients-

4 Northern Bobwhite Quail (skinned or plucked)

1/2 Stick of Butter

2 T Olive Oil

4 Large Celery Stocks

2 Large Carrots

2 Medium Cloves of Garlic (preferably stiff neck)

1 Medium Onion

1 Cup Wild Rice Blend

32 oz. of your favorite Chicken Broth

Salt and Pepper to taste



Soup and Rice Prep.

Wash and chop the carrots, onion and celery to the size and shape you prefer for soups.  Some like things a little hardier than others.
Coat the bottom of a large dutch ( I prefer cast iron) with 1/2 T Olive oil, and 1/2 of the butter.
Bring the carrots, onion and celery (or Mirepoix) to a slow low sweat.  We want to ease the flavors out of these vegetables, not brown them.  This step may take a little while on low heat.  Ideally the carrots will be softened in 12 to 15 minutes, and the onion will still be holding together without browning.

When the carrots are beginning to soften (6 to 8 minutes) add the garlic minced.   Give the vegetables a gentle stir now and again with a wooden spoon to help keep everything heating evenly.  Keep the heat adjusted low enough to sweat the veggies, but not to saute'.

Somewhere 12 - 18 minutes in turn the heat up slightly (from low, medium / low to medium).  Give the pan just a minute or two to warm up a little and deglaze with half (16 Oz.) of the chicken broth.  Remember to scrape the bottom and sides of the dutch as you stir in the broth.

Once your dutch is deglazed and all those wonderfully cooked vegetables are stewing together in the chicken broth add in the 1 Cup Wild Rice Blend.  Give it a stir or two and wait for it to boil.  Once at a boil, turn it down to a simmer.    



 Quail Prep.

Wash the quail in cold water and carefully look for any stray feathers or birdshot.  Pat dry with a paper towel.  Let the quail come to room temperature.

Oil a heavy iron skillet or dutch with 1/2 T Olive oil.  Add the quail breast side up and rub each breast with another 1/2 T Olive oil.  Add a few small pats of butter, about 1/4 stick, to the pan between the quail.

Put the heavy skillet with the quail, oil and butter into a preheated 400 degree oven.  Set your timer for 10 minutes.  The quail will need to roast probably 12 - 15 minutes, but start checking at 10, everyone's oven is a little different.

Take the quail out of the oven when everything is beautifully roasted.  There will be a gorgeous quail, butter, and olive oil broth in the bottom of the pan.  Don't throw this out.  Allow the quail to cool enough to pick the meat from the bones and put it in a clean bowl.


Putting it Together

By now you should have a beautiful clear soup base with gorgeous aromatic vegetables, and maybe two or three hungry folks sniffing around the kitchen.

Add the roasting drippings from the skillet the quail roasted in to the soup base.   Now add in the roasted quail meat to the simmering soup.

The trick now is getting the rice right.  Most of the time the wild rice will need to simmer 30 - 40 minutes depending on your preference for doneness.  I begin taste testing for salt and pepper and rice doneness at about the 30 minute mark.

Serve in a heavy bowl with a piece of crusty bread and a hot cup of coffee or tea on a cold evening.  If it's the Winter Solstice, that's just a bonus!



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Modern Wild Man ~The Northern Bobwhite ~

The Northern Bobwhite is a sturdy little bird who manages to make a living from the state of Michigan all the way to Guatemala. These amazing little birds make their home in a variety of types of terrain, and survive through extreme seasons. Their song is unmistakable, and hearing the call of a Bobwhite to me is like feeling the warmth of the sun on my shoulders on a cold day.


The Bobwhite, or simply quail as they are known in my South Eastern Kansas, are a sportsman's tradition. A quail hunt is almost a rite of passage. Many people may quickly begin to think of Southern Plantations, and large groups of hunters with far ranging pointers when they think of quail hunts, but for me it's something far different.


I grew up all over the state of Kansas. Moving with my father's retail management career, and my mother's work to her college degree, I found myself in five towns, two time zones and in schools hundreds of miles apart before my freshman year of high school. One constant however was a little town on the coast of Nebraska in Western Kansas. When the holiday season arrived, you could bet we would be with family, and in the heart of upland bird hunting.


When I think about a quail hunt, I am whisked back to the cold mornings of late season upland hunts. An intimate affair, shared with my Dad, a cousin, uncle, or close friend. Rarely did our groups exceed 3 or 4. We put miles on, both on old pickups and boots. Many times in western Kansas we search out a ringneck pheasant, but a quail covey is always a gem to find. Men and boys, carrying family heirlooms, shotguns passed down from generations. Family traditions are built this way, boys learn to be men, and men learn to be mentors. From a distance you see individuals, walking along abandoned farmsteads, overgrown hedgerows, and crop field edges; cold and a long way from any creature comforts. But, an upland hunt is often much deeper. Relationships are built, and conversations that maybe couldn't get started begin to take form.


The sound of feet crunching through a crusted light snow, and your breath gently fogging under the brim of a worn cap seem to happen in slow motion when a covey rises. Then it happens, and it happens fast, birds flush and fly in all different directions, you have to train yourself to slow down and pick out one. Snap a shotgun to your shoulder, follow through and try to watch where the rest of the birds set down. When my hunting career began, I was both the hunter and bird dog. For the last seventeen years however I have been blessed with a four legged companion for my bird hunts. Watching a dog work a downed bird, and then to pick out a few birds out of a covey after the initial rise is a privilege. I hunt with labradors that work close to the gun. Many upland enthusiasts prefer a pointer or setter for quail. But, for an all purpose dog, both upland and waterfowl I prefer my labs.


Quail hunting in much of rural America is tradition. A rite of passage, and many times a type of weld that brings family and friends together. I can close my eyes and just that fast find myself on a number of hunts from years ago. There are opinions on all sorts of things like gauges of shotguns, types of loads, types of dogs, you name it. For now, let's just agree that an upland hunt is its own kind of magic.