Cooking Ducks and Geese

[Fox]

How do you guys cook your ducks and geese?
I did a few stir-frys last year with the breast meat of the geese and tried a stew with the legs but had bad results.
They are quite tough, what methods do you guys use to get a very tasty tender bird in the end?

[CLK]

I found cutting goose up into medalion size piece. Then maranding in worcestershire and Montreal steak spice 2 to 3 days. when ready wrap a slice of bacon around each piece of meat. Cook under the broiler for 4 to 5 min. So they have a touch of pink left in the center, You can't tell the differnce from beef.

[VixChix]

Marinating really helps. I often use soy sauce and milk for venison and goose - a day or two in that makes a big difference.

I like to cut goose breast into strips for stir fry or stew. We only use the breast.

[Cossack]

I slice mallard breasts across the grain into medallions 1/2" thick.
Shake them in a bag that has flour, S&P, poultry seasoning and some cinnamon (no kidding). It's the secret ingredient everyone wonders about.
Brown them quickly to seal in flavor.
Add pearl onion and whole mushroom caps and 1.5 cups Burgedy wine. Cover and simmer half hour. Makes it's own gravy.
Serve with wild/brown rice. Vegie and salad.

A friend had goose and duck breast made into Brats (pork added) DELICIOUS.

[beretta96D]

I do like Vix, soak them in soy sauce and milk. If I want a goose breast that night for supper, I definitely tenderize the steaks first, if not I find they swell up and become chewy.

Last year we had them made into sausage with pork and turned out very well.

Before for a recipe, we would simply make a stew with dumplings and replace the beef with goose/duck pieces and it was very good and tender out of a pressure cooker.

[N8tr Boy]

I haven't hunted for ducks and geese for a couple of years , but a hunting friend at the time told me wrap in cheese cloth and put in roaster with 1 qt of apple juice or cider. It works. The acid in the apple juice helps break down the muscle. You can make a gravy with the juice when finished.

[DanO]

We soak the breast over night in water in fridge. Boil the breast for about 45 minutes in with apples, oranges, onions, and a grapefruit. This seems to tenderize the breast and remove much of the really gamey taste. Throw away the boiling liquid. Bake breast in the oven with bacon on top until it reachs temp suitable for turkey or chicken. We serve with gravy from domestic chicken or turkey (always seem to have excess gravy). It is excellent and it does taste like a good cut of beef. It's not chewy.

[Boo]

My wife cuts goose breasts along the grain into half inch cutlets and pounds them until they are a quarter inch thick. Eggs them and then breads them. Fries them till brown. (They can be frozen for later use at this point)Bakes them in tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce for 2 to 3 hours at 300F or until tender. Everyone who has eaten them wants more!

[hikerman]

VixChix, what does the milk & soy sause do to the venison?

[VixChix]

I find that the milk takes any gamey taste out of wild meat. Both the milk and the soy will tenderize meat.

[BLESSEDBYGOD]

My Favorite way to do goose:

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small yellow onion, sliced
1 goose breast
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups chicken broth

DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add goose breast and brown on both sides for about 5 minutes, or until browned.
Place goose breast in slow cooker and add Worcestershire sauce. Add chicken broth to cover (approximately 2 cups) and cook on High setting for 6 to 8 hours, or until meat falls off bone. Shred with a fork and mix with your favorite barbecue sauce.

-the REV

[BLESSEDBYGOD]

This was my old Snow Goose recipe until I discovered the one I posted above:

First of all breast out your snow goose (don't pluck it, takes too much time). Put the goose breasts into a ziplock bag with your favorite marinate (add alot of spices, ie. garlic, cayenne pepper, Tony's seasoning). put this into the fridge and let it marinate for a minimum of 2 days, I like to try for 3 to 4 days.

When the time has come to cook the snow goose, take it out of the ziplock and pour the marinate into a roasting pan. Cut the breasts into small cubes or medallions. ***Important step here - find a cypress board that will fit into the bottom of the roasting pan and place the goose breasts onto the board and set all of it in the pan***. Pour a minimum of one-half of a 5th of inexpensive bourbon over the bird. Set the oven to 325 degrees and place a lid on the pan and stick it in the oven. Bake for 5 hours, basting the breast every 30 minutes or so.

When the timer goes off, take the pan out of the oven. Slide the breasts off and eat the board. Think of it as a Viking funeral for the bird.

-the REV

[dutchhunter]

i cooked two geese the other day .I griled the breasts on thr b q til nice and brown then in a fry pan butter onion appel pear cook until soft add mpel syerp and vinager to taste peper then ad gooes to pan and bast with juices simmer untill tender 45min or so no rush .nice!!! got to try it feel freeto add or subtract from ingredeance with what u have strawberrys plums mango will all work DUTCH

[jaybird]

All of the ideas sound good, I just would like to add that whatever you do, don't overcook; or you might as well be chewing on a boot. Ducks and geese are best cooked RARE.

[LeGrand]

Going to try this one. Don't laugh, it seems to be the rave for many waterfowl hunters.

-Cut up goose breast (I had 5 chunks of meat from each breast and used two geese and two mallards)
-10 cups of brewed coffee
-package of Lipton Beefy Onion Mix
-1 can of Swenson Beef stock
-chopped up onion
-chopped up garlic

Cooked it on High setting for 1 hour and the low for another 10 hours in the crockpot I use.