Tailgate Fajitas

Food almost always tastes better outside. Think backyard barbecues, ballpark hot dogs, marshmallows roasted over a campfire, or tailgate treats prepared before the big game. Cooking outside after a hunt is a lot like tailgating at a football game, only in reverse—the game comes first, then the cooking. It is best to do all the chopping and dicing at home the night before. When you’re done hunting, fire up the grill or portable burner and enjoy a great meal at your duck camp or home.

Duck Breast Fajitas

This is a fast and hot preparation that is intended to sear the duck breasts and vegetables quickly. The meat is browned and tender and the vegetables are still firm to the bite. Pair with guacamole, lettuce, tomato, and anything else you like wrapped up in a tortilla. Yields: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

• 4 duck breast fillets, skin on or off
• Salt and pepper
• Pinch or two of garlic powder and ground cumin (or substitute your favorite seasoning blend)
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus additional oil for the grill or skillet
• Bell and jalapeño peppers, seeded and quartered lengthwise
• 1 large onion, cut into thick slices
• Shredded cheese
• Sliced avocado
• Salsa
• Fresh cilantro leaves
• Flour or corn tortillas

PREPARATION

1. In a large bowl or zip-top bag, combine duck breast fillets with salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, lime juice, Worcestershire, and olive oil. Toss well to coat and marinate for 30 minutes while the grill or skillet heats up.

2. Once the grill or skillet is hot and lightly oiled, add the fillets and vegetables. If the skin is intact, place the fillets skin-side-down and cook until the skin is medium-brown and crispy. Cook peppers and onions until lightly browned and remove from the grill or skillet. Once the fillets are browned on one side, flip them over and brown the other side until the desired internal temperature is reached.

3. Remove the fillets from the grill or skillet and let them rest for a few minutes before cutting them across the grain into 1/4-inch strips. Slice vegetables and arrange them on a platter with duck, cheese, avocado, salsa, cilantro, and tortillas.

A Question of Taste

It’s amazing how much our thoughts and perceptions can influence our eating experiences. I have a hunting partner who used to swear that gadwalls were not fit to eat. He claimed that gadwalls would fly from northern California, where we live, over the Sierra Nevada mountains to Nevada, where they would eat snails before returning to California’s rice fields. The snails, he claimed, made the ducks practically inedible. Of course, this is nonsense.

After a successful hunt, I decided to put my friend’s theory to rest with a blind taste test. While hidden from his view, I removed one breast fillet from a mallard and one from a gadwall (a third hunter observed to ensure that the process was fair). I seasoned both fillets with salt and pepper, seared them to medium-rare in a lightly oiled skillet, and cut them into bite-sized pieces. The challenge was to determine if my buddy could tell the mallard from the gadwall. He thoughtfully sampled a few bites before confidently identifying which was which. Guess what? He picked the wrong duck.