There’s something special about teal. While they are neither the smallest of ducks (that would be the bufflehead), nor the tastiest (that would be a subject of great debate), green-winged and their rarer cousin the blue-winged teal are undisputedly among the tastiest ducks around. I may prefer mallards, she may prefer wood ducks and he may hold the canvasback above all others (haven’t eaten ours yet, so I will let you know if I fall into that group soon!), but we will all agree that the little teal is in our top three.
I am sad to say that you will never eat one unless you either hunt them yourself or know a waterfowler willing to part with a few. (As it happens, I was flush with the little birds last week so I gave three to my friend Elise. Here’s how she cooked them.) Teal are not farmed anywhere, and have been illegal to sell in the United States since World War I. Hunting is your only option. Can you substitute domestic duck in recipes for teal? Well yes…no. There really isn’t anything else like it.
But if you do get one, or several, follow this one fundamental rule: Don’t mess with them. Leave the fancy sauces and preparations for ducks who need a veil of spice and wine.  Teal demand simplicity. This recipe from 1903 has the right idea.
Have 3 fat teal prepared for cooking, and take off the heads. Split into halves without completely dividing, and season with a salt-spoonsful of salt, half as much pepper, and a tablespoonful of olive-oil. Roll them well in the oil and broil over clear but not too hot fire, for ten minutes on each side.
This is then served with hotel butter with watercress on the side. Fantastic preparation; only thing I would change is broiling for less time. Teal must be served medium-to-rare. You need not split the ducks, though. I wrote a standard recipe for roasting ducks in the fall issue of Edible Sacramento, but it is not posted online. So I will repost it here.
The one condiment our forebears were never without when it came to wild game recipes was red currant jelly. I really want to try it with my next batch o’teal, and definitely with those canvasbacks. Sadly, I have not been able to locate this classic Victorian accoutrement, and currents are one of the few things that do not grow well in California’s Central Valley. Pity.
18 responses so far ↓
1 Andrew
// Jan 16, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Thanks for even more inspiration. I really need help cleaning my birds. PLEEEEASSEE HELP…. Is there a video or a good picture sequence you know about?
2 NorCal Cazadora
// Jan 16, 2008 at 8:51 pm
If you can convince Mr. Hunter Angler Gardener Cook to pluck and dress the birds I just brought home, I’d be quite happy to film it for you.
3 Andrew
// Jan 17, 2008 at 8:39 am
That would be great. Of the 20 ducks and 2 geese I’ve brought home all have been breasted. I start plucking and about half way I give up cause I have no idea where to go after plucking.
4 hank
// Jan 17, 2008 at 8:45 am
Check your email, Andrew. I sent you a step-by-step. Wish us luck for ducks this weekend, so we can do the video.
5 Belinda
// Jan 17, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Wow–I, too, would love to have a tutorial on dressing the whole bird. Do you scald it first, like you would a chicken? Good luck this weekend. Hubby and Bro.-in-law are going out Saturday morning, and then Hubby and I again on Sunday, and he is very much bemoaning not having Monday off, because he says MKL would WANT him in the duck woods. We’re in central Arkansas, and it is positively duck paradise right now.
I have only just allowed the first trophy into the house (banded wood-duck down from MD), and I have the next 10 months while they finish it to hope I haven’t opened Pandora’s box there.
6 Belinda
// Jan 17, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Uh, that would be MLK, Jr. I have no idea who “MKL” is.
7 Stacey S
// Jan 19, 2008 at 6:15 am
My husband has brought home about thirty teal over the last three months. They have each been breasted and frozen…what should I do with just boneless skinless teal breasts?
8 hank
// Jan 19, 2008 at 8:27 am
Throw them at your husband and tell him to pluck the ducks next time! Seriously, I have a few recipes for just breasts in my recipes section, and I will add a few more for you.
9 Stacey S
// Jan 20, 2008 at 5:14 am
Thank you…I may throw them at him now they are rock hard frozen!
10 Maryann
// Jan 20, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Can I throw some at her husband too? Sounds like fun!
11 Belinda
// Jan 22, 2008 at 2:44 pm
OK, I’m headed home right now with a pair of fat mallard drakes, gutted but otherwise intact. If you already went to the trouble of sending a plucking/dressing tutorial to the other commenter, could I persuade you to copy/paste it in an email to me, too?
Our season ends this weekend, so I’m experimenting now. Thanks!
12 PitBull Lawyer
// Jan 24, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I find that pomegranate jelly is also good with duck, and it has a bitter/sour “tangy” finish that isn’t too unlike red currant. Instead of splitting and grilling, I have had luck with roasting whole, “beer-can style”, over direct heat (as opposed to indirect). The Skin gets crispy, inside stays moist & rare.
13 hank
// Jan 25, 2008 at 8:05 am
PitBull – I bet pomegranate would go well with duck! Now all I need to do is find/make some…And you know, I will try some “beer can” style ducks this year. I admit to being kind of prejudiced against the technique, but it’s a really silly mental block, so I will get over it – guess you need skinny beer cans, huh. Red Bull might work! Ew…
14 Elise
// Jan 26, 2008 at 10:23 am
Alas, we didn’t have our typical huge crop of pomegranates or I would have given you more. You can however make pomegranate jelly from pomegranate juice you get from the store. POM Wonderful is a good brand. Here’s my recipe for pomegranate jelly:
http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000860pomegranate_jelly.php
15 PitBull Lawyer
// Feb 8, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Hank,
Weber makes an awesome thingamajig that replicates beer-canning, but with a non-stick grease tray so you can use it in your oven. I just did 2 mallards last night with great success at 375 degrees for 45 min. Although this might sound wierd, marinating in Kikoman’s teriyaki sauce (thin) does great things to the bird, especially if you don’t have time to soak to get the blood out to reduce “gamey-ness”.
This works for whole or breasted birds, and makes a crispy carmelized skin/crust b/c of the sugar. The pomegranate jelly CAN easily be made from the juice commercially available in stores (POM), and it is great! I use melted jelly as a diping sauce/glaze on the teriyaki-marinated meat. There is no clash of flavor.
16 hank
// Feb 9, 2008 at 8:33 am
Sweet. I will have to look up that Weber beer-canning thing. And I managed to find red current jelly, in – of course! – Corti Bros., one of the finest groceries in the West.
17 John
// Dec 29, 2008 at 7:53 am
Regarding Stacy’s question about the boneless, skinless teal breasts. Don’t throw them at your husband, throw them my way! Here is what I did:
Rule #1: don’t overcook Teal because it reportedly will taste like liver. And I hate liver. It should be served medium rare. When I served it, it even looked like rare steak.
Rule #2: No need for excessive sauces. The natural flavor of Teal duck does not need to be masked.
I found this recipe on the Ducks Unlimited site for Duck Scallpine. I adapted it to be far simpler. :
Here is what I did:
I put the two breasts in a small plastic bag and …very…gently…beat them to be slightly thinner ( 1/4 inch) with a mallet.
Rolled them in flour…with a little salt and pepper added.
In a frying pan, I melted some butter and a little olive oil. I added some crushed garlic, a little bit of chopped fresh rosemary, and about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice…all over medium (lowish) heat….not too hot. The garlic should be just starting to lightly simmer…don’t burn it.
I took the teal breasts and carefully fried them in this for about 2 minutes on each side. I wanted them to be rare.
When you slice the meat, it will look just like a rare steak…very tasty.
If you don’t have enough for a full meal, they make a great appetizers.
18 nomajean
// Mar 30, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Red current jelly is available in most grocery stores. It is great on lamb as well as duck.
Breasted teal are great marinated and then wrapped with spicy pepper strips and bacon, then grilled to rare/med-rare. Excellent!!
Also very good grilled and served with a cherry sauce.
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