# Cooking Scaup



## ice bandit (Dec 17, 2005)

Big Frank 25 said:


> Precook the bacon first. cookie sheet in the oven 400 for 10 minutes or so. this will allow you to cook the wrapped stuffed peppers to crisp bacon and not over cook the duck.


I'll have to try that


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## BFG (Mar 4, 2005)

That one on the far end of the pile is gonna be unlike the others when it comes to table fare. Goldeneye...egads...oof. Buffies fall into the same category, as do mergansers. 

If you have never had bluebills, you are in luck. Most guys (myself included) ruin them the first couple times they try to prepare them. They can be made to taste absolutely awful. Once this happens, many write them off. I've had them a lot, and even after they were prepared similarly to what has been suggested, I still have a preconceived opinion of what they were really going to taste like. 

Divers have a very strong flavor, unlike any duck that you have probably ever tasted. The less you cook them, the less that strong flavor is enhanced. If you notice a common theme here though, most of the ideas involve going above the diver taste with other savory flavors. 

We have stopped hunting them for the most part. I can't make them taste as good as I can a mallard, black, gadwall, or wood duck. I'll shoot a few now and then, but they get ground up with leftover goose into landjagers.


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## Lurker (Jan 25, 2009)

http://honest-food.net/2017/01/02/french-stuffed-cabbage-recipe/


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## ajkulish (Nov 16, 2013)

That looks incredible as well. So many recipes, not enough ducks...


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## Swamp Boss (Mar 14, 2003)

Skin off. All but cans go into a cacciatore! Cans are seasoned to taste and cooked like mallards on the grill.


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## Cork Dust (Nov 26, 2012)

jwinks said:


> Do you have a meat grinder? Grind them with some bacon for some duck sliders.


Hopefully, you marked the goldeneye breasts to cook separately-very strong flavor best added to sausage or done as poppers. By size the birds in the picture are nearly as large as your cans, so I would lean toward greater scaup. Next time check the feather shafts on the primaries. If they white shaft color extends out nearly to their tips, they are greaters. Lessers will have a purplish iridescence to their crown feathers on their heads, particularly as the come into full breeding plumage. 

Grab a 1/2-3/4 cup of olive oil. Peel five to seven garlic cloves and smash these with the flat side of your knife. Add then to the olive oil with black pepper and sea salt to taste and roast them at 350F until they are soft. Marinate the breasts in the cooled mixture after you run it through a food processor to emulsify it. Grill the breasts and baste with the marinate with the end-goal of medium rare meat. 

Look-up making a red wine reduction. Pinot noir is a good choice to start from. Barefoot makes a decent (cheap as well as taste) Pinot. A half-liter will reduce down to 1/4 of the original volume, when done properly. When finished, fold-in current jelly to taste while still keeping your burner heat low to not burn the sugars. Add a mix of fresh blackberries and raspberries long enough to just heat them, prior serving. Plate your breasts and pair them with long grain and wild rice and top them with the berry sauce wine reduction prior serving.

This is a great redhead recipe as well.


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## ajkulish (Nov 16, 2013)

Definitely going to try that one. I'll report back on some of these recipes!


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## ajkulish (Nov 16, 2013)

Canvasback breasts hit the grill today. Just a little salt, pepper, basil, and garlic salt and it was absolutely phenomenal.


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## Lamarsh (Aug 19, 2014)

Treat those cans differently than the other divers. I have never eaten one, but I hear cans mostly feed on wild celery and have a favorable taste as compared to other divers.

I feed buffies and eyes to my dog, and I leave that 1/4" layer of fatty skin on, and he loves it! Just cook em in the pan for a bit and feed it to that new pup of yours. 



Big Frank 25 said:


> Precook the bacon first. cookie sheet in the oven 400 for 10 minutes or so. this will allow you to cook the wrapped stuffed peppers to crisp bacon and not over cook the duck.


If you cook it with bacon, do this. I've experimented enough with bacon and duck, and this is the way to go.


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## ajkulish (Nov 16, 2013)

I'd feed it to the dog, but my biggest pet peeves is dogs that beg, so the little guy wont get to know what table food is like until hes retired. But maybe if I put it in his dish...


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## Big Frank 25 (Feb 21, 2002)

ajkulish said:


> Canvasback breasts hit the grill today. Just a little salt, pepper, basil, and garlic salt and it was absolutely phenomenal.


I think you nailed that one!


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## William H Bonney (Jan 14, 2003)

Don't over think bluebills. 

Fajitas are the way to go, onion, peppers, slice duck in a scorching hot, cast iron skillet. Sour cream, guacamole, cheese, salsa.


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## ajkulish (Nov 16, 2013)

I've heard about duck fajitas but forgot about that possibility. Good idea, thanks! 

I'm gonna try and hit each of these recipes, thanks for all the help guys. Oh, and I also have a ring neck from early in the season. Is it comparable to Blues or is it a golden eye type duck?


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